iH&l^ 


REESE  LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

l^eceived  ,  igo     . 


Accession  No.       924^^'^    '   ^^'^^  ^^ 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/collegewomanOOthwirich 


THE  COLLEGE  WOMAN 


By  President  Thwing. 


American  Colleges  :    Their  Students  and 

Work.     i6mo,  cloth $1.25 

The  Reading  of  Books.     i6mo,  cloth     -        -  1.25 

The   Family :    An    Historical   and    Social 
Study.      (In  collaboration  with  Carrie   F. 

Butler  Thwing.)     i2mo,  cloth,  gilt  top          -  2.00 

The  Working  Church.     i6mo,  cloth      -        -  .75 

Within  College  Walls.     i6mo,  cloth      -        -  i.oo 

The  College  Woman.    i6mo,  cloth        -       -  i.oo 


THE 

COLLEGE    WOMAN 


BY 

CHARLES  FRANKLIN  THWING,  LL.D. 

President  of  the   College  for   Women    of  Western  Reserve 
University, 


} 


NEW  YORK 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St. 


Copyright,  1894, 

BY 

The  Baker  &  Taylor  Co. 


THE  CAXTON  PRESS 
NIW  YORK 


PREFATORY     NOTK. 


This  book  has  grown  out  of  my  college 
work.  It  is  a  contribution  (I  know  it  is 
a  little  one)  to  the  discussion  of  one  of 
the  most  important  questions  of  education. 


C.  F.  T. 


Cleveland,  Ohio, 

2oth  August^  i8g4. 


92446 


CONTENTS. 


THE   COLLEGE   WOMAN: 

PAGE 

I.  Some  Problems  Respecting  Her 9 

IL  The   Principle,    Content   and    Proportion 

OF  Her  Studies 19 

in.  Her  Environment ". 54 

IV.  Her  Health 76 

V.  Methods  in  Her  Education iii 

VI.  Demands   Made   by   the  Community   upon 

Her  . , 132 

VII.  After  Her  Graduation 148 


OF 


THE  COLLEGE  WOMAN. 


I. 

SOME  PROBLEMS  RESPECTING  HER. 

In  the  last  twenty-five  years  many  ques- 
tions as  to  the  college  education  of  young 
women  have  been  answered. 

The  question  whether  women  want  a 
college  education  is  no  longer  asked.  In 
the  year  1869  about  eight  thousand  women 
were  enrolled  as  students  in  the  preparatory 
departments  of  American  colleges  and  in 
the  colleges  themselves.  At  present  there 
are  more  than  twenty  thousand  enrolled  as 
regular  college  students.  Colleges  which 
admit  women  only  have  buildings  and  ap- 
paratus  of  a  value   of   twelve    millions    of 


lO  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

dollars,  and  funds  amounting  to  three  mill- 
ions. So  eager  are  women  to  enter  certain 
colleges  that  applications  for  admission  are 
made  a  year  in  advance.  Women,  like  men, 
of  every  social  class,  are  flocking  to  the 
college  :  women  rich  and  women  poor, 
women  to  whom  a  liberal  education  is  a  tool 
for  earning  a  living,  and  women  to  whom 
it  is  a  condition  or  agency  of  culture. 

The  old  and  tiresome  question,  too, 
whether  women  have  intellectual  ability 
sufficient  to  receive  and  profit  by  a  college 
education,  is  closed.  So  very  old  and  tire- 
some is  that  question  that  one  hesitates  to 
suggest  it  in  order  to  say  that  it  is  settled. 
It  is  superfluous  to  call  over  the  list  of 
women  who  have  distinguished  themselves 
in  mathematics  and  science,  in  philosophy 
and  literature.  They  are  found  in  the  Old 
World  and  the  New,  in  the  colleges  of  Old 
England  and  of  New  England.  As  pro- 
fessors, administrators,  authors,  editors,  li- 
brarians, physicians,  as  well  as  home-makers, 
they  are  doing  their  work.     It  is  significant 


SOME  PROBLEMS  RESPECTING  HER.    I  I 

that  women  have  shown  their  ability  not 
only  in  literary  studies,  a  field  which  general 
considerations  would  lead  one  to  expect  they 
would  cultivate,  but  in  the  severer  subjects. 
Women  have  won  conspicuous  honors  in 
Greek  and  mathematics.  It  is  still  discussed 
whether  there  be  sex  in  brain;  but  the  ques- 
tion whether  women  have  brain  sufficient  to 
do  college  work  and  to  receive  the  discipline 
and  culture  of  the  college,  is  as  wise  as  to 
ask  whether  steam  is  a  motive  power.  In 
those  colleges  to  which  women  and  men  are 
admitted  on  equal  terms,  scholarship  seems 
to  be  determined  by  other  elements  than  the 
element  of  sex.  If  there  are  certain  im- 
portant subjects  of  study  in  which  men 
frequently  are  superior  to  women,  there  are 
also  other  subjects  no  less  important  in 
which  women  are  as  frequently  superior  to 
men.  If  men  excel  in  philosophical  studies, 
women  excel  in  historical.  But  in  all  events 
the  feminine  brain  is  big  and  fine  enough  to 
receive  the  training  of  the  college. 

The  persistence  of  this  question  of  the  in- 


12  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

tellectual  incapacity  of  women  is  a  singular 
instance  of  social  and  physicological  narrow- 
ness and  ignorance.  The  question  should 
have  been  laid  on  the  shelf  more  than  fifty 
years  ago,  when  Mary  Lyon  summoned 
women  to  Mount  Holyoke  and  put  before 
them  a  course  of  study  stiff  enough  to  de- 
mand the  strongest  power  in  its  pursuit. 
It  was  a  course  deficient  in  literary,  linguistic 
and  historical  parts,  but  it  was  full  in  science 
— relatively  to  the  science  usually  taught 
in  1837 — and  especially  full  in  philosophy. 
What  should  one  say  to  the  course  of  the 
Senior  year  which  among  its  eleven  subjects 
included  **  Paley's  Natural  Theology,  Whate- 
ley's  Logic,  Whateley's  Rhetoric,  Intellectual 
Philosophy,  Wayland's  Moral  Philosophy, 
Wayland's  Political  Economy,  Butler's  Anal- 
ogy ?  "* 

^  Another  question,  relating  to  the  fact 
whether  women  have  sufficient  physical 
capacity  to  receive  the  education  which  they 
wish   for    and    for   which   their  intellectual 

*  Memoir  of  Mary  Lyon,  p.  290. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  RESPECTING  HER.    I  3 

ability  is  sufficient,  is  of  serious  importance. 
There  is  no  question  relating  to  the  educa- 
tion of  women  about  which  is  deeper  inter- 
est. It  is  certainly  true  that  the  agreement 
respecting  this  question  is  neither  so  hearty 
nor  so  common  as  is  found  respecting  the 
preceding  question.  Certain  statistics  have 
been  gathered  by  the  Association  of  Colle- 
giate Alumnae  and  published  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bureau  of  Labor,  which  lead  to  the 
following  conclusions  : 

*  *  The  facts  which  we  have  presented  seem 
to  warrant  the  assertion,  as  the  legitimate 
conclusion  to  be  drawn  from  a  careful  study 
of  the  tables,  that  the  seeking  of  a  college 
education  on  the  part  of  women  does  not 
necessarily  entail  a  loss  of  health  or  a  serious 
impairment  of  the  vital  forces.  Indeed,  the 
tables  show  this  so  conclusively  that  there  is 
little  need,  were  it  within  our  province,  .for 
extended  discussion  of  the  subject. 

**The  graduates,  as  a  body,  entered  col- 
lege in  good  health,  passed  through  the 
course  of  study  prescribed  without  material 


14  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

change  in  health,  and  since  graduation,  by 
reason  of  the  effort  required  to  gain  a  higher 
education,  do  not  seem  to  have  become  un- 
fitted to  meet  the  responsibilities  or  bear 
their  proportionate  share  of  the  burdens  of 
life. 

*  *  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the  female 
graduates  of  our  colleges  and  universities  do 
not  seem  to  show,  as  the  result  of  their  col- 
lege studies  and  duties,  any  marked  differ- 
ence in  general  health  from  the  average 
health  likely  to  be  reported  by  an  equal 
number  of  women  engaged  in  other  kinds  of 
work ;  or,  in  fact,  of  women  generally,  with- 
out regard  to  occupation  followed."*         ^ 

In  respect,  however,  to  the  question  of 
health,  I  have  more  to  say  than  is  fitting  in 
a  general  introductory  chapter. 

The  fourth  and  last  question  to  which  I 
shall  allude  as  settled  by  the  movements  of 
the  last  twenty-five  years,  is  whether  college 
education  desexes  or  dehumanizes  women. 

■^  Health  Statistics  of  Female  College  Graduates,  con- 
cluding paragraphs. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  RESPECTING  HER.    I  5 

This  is  the  question  which  George  William 
Curtis  asked  and  answered  at  the  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  Vassar 
College.  Mr.  Curtis  asked,  '^  Has  this  larger 
liberty  of  education,  this  freedom  of  choice, 
this  devoted  and  successful  study,  this  win- 
ning of  the  scholastic  palm  and  proud  deco- 
ration of  the  degree,  has  all  this,  either  in 
the  persons  of  the  students  themselves,  or  in 
the  general  effect  upon  their  sex  and  upon 
the  estimate  of  it,  justified  in  any  point 
the  sorrowful  anticipations  which  seemed  to 
regard  the  opening  gates  of  the  highest  edu- 
cation for  women  as  the  flood-gates  of  a 
torrent  of  evils  which  should  sweep  away  the 
loveliness  and  grace  and  essential  charm  of 
womanhood  ?  ...  Whoever  enters  here, 
must  she  leave  behind  the  fairest  hope  for 
woman  or  for  man  ?  Is  it  then  true  that  her 
essential  and  enduring  charm  is  so  cruelly 
perplexed  that  to  be  an  angel  she  must  be 
less  than  a  woman  ?  Is  that  the  curse  of 
Paradise,  the  endless  price  of  the  apple  ? 
Truth  and  experience  laugh  the  question  to 


1 6  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

scorn,  and  scatter  the  cloud  of  foolish  rhet- 
oric about  the  sphere  and  duty  and  capacity 
and  divine  intention  of  woman,"*  etc. 

College  education  has  not  made  woman 
either  a  blue-stocking,  or  a  stick  or  a  brute ! 
It  is  said  that  of  the  first  twenty-four  classes 
graduated  at  Vassar  College,  having  eight 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  members,  three 
hundred  and  fifteen,  or  a  little  more  than 
thirty-six  per  cent.,  were  in  the  year  1890 
reported  as  married,  and  three  hundred  and 
five  were  reported  as  engaged  in  teaching. 
Of  the  others,  thirty-nine  were  described  as 
literary  workers,  twenty-eight  as  physicians 
and  medical  students,  sixteen  were  teachers 
of  arts,  five  were  artists,  five  farmers,  four 
librarians,  and  the  others  were  enrolled  as 
organists,  secretaries,  compilers,  mission- 
aries, actors,  bookkeepers,  etc.,  etc. 

Woman  is  still  a  human  being  and  a 
woman.  She  has  not  become  less  charming. 
She  is  still  able  *Ho  please;"  although  **to 
please"  may  not  be  **your  best,  your  sweet- 

*  Vassar  College,  Twenty-fifth  Anniversary,  pp.  57,  58. 


SOME  PROBLEMS  RESPECTING  HER.    I  7 

est  empire,"  as  Mrs.  Barbould  said  it  was  to 
the  British  woman.  Her  heart  still  loves 
and  listens  to  love's  messages,  for  do  not  the 
figures  prove  that  more  than  one-third  of  all 
the  graduates  of  our  oldest  college  for  women 
have  already  married  ?  And  do  not  college 
women  usually  marry  far  better  than  their 
sisters  not  college-bred  ?  The  man  who 
chances  to  be  a  minister,  or  a  doctor,  or  a 
lawyer,  has  ceased  to  fear,  if  ever  he  did  fear, 
that  the  ranks  of  his  profession  are  to  be 
crowded  by  women  struggling  for  a  place. 
The  home  and  the  teacher's  desk  seem  to 
represent  the  service  which  women  can 
usually  best  render  to  humanity,  and  more 
than  two-thirds  of  the  college  women  be- 
come mistresses  of  either  a  home  or  a  school- 
room. If  in  some  men  personal  and  profes- 
sional ambition  be  stronger  than  domestic 
love,  in  a  woman  domestic  love  is  a  passion 
stronger  than  any  other.  Have  not  women 
able  and  eminent  retired  from  public  places 
of  great  usefulness  in  order  to  marry  ? 

Though  these  important  questions  may  be 


1 8  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

laid  on  the  shelf,  yet  there  are  questions 
which  are  still  on  the  counter  of  active  dis- 
cussion. Should  women  receive  the  same 
education  which  men  receive  ?  Should  the 
education  be  the  same  in  content,  or,  if  it  is 
the  same  in  content,  should  the  method  be 
identical  with  that  of  man's  education? 
Should  education  for  women  be  conducted  in 
colleges  for  themselves  alone,  or  in  colleges 
for  themselves  and  men,  or  in  colleges  co- 
ordinated with  those  for  men  in  one  univer- 
sity ?  How  far  should  specialization  be 
carried  ?  Are  there  certain  conditions  in 
women  or  in  society  which  require  that  their 
training  should  receive  more  careful  super- 
vision than  prevails  in  the  case  of  young 
men  ?  Is  the  health  of  women  sufficiently 
looked  after?  What  may  the  community 
demand  of  the  college-bred  woman  ?  What 
is  to  be  the  effect  on  the  community  of  the 
influx  into  it  every  year  of  a  large  number 
of  graduates  ?  These  are  some  of  the  ques- 
tions which  are  still  under  debate. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     1 9 


II. 

THE   PRINCIPLE,   CONTENT   AND    PROPORTION 
OF   HER   STUDIES. 

The  principle  of  the  education  of  women 
is  not  hard  to  find  or  abstruse  to  state.  It  is 
the  principle  not  belonging  to  woman  as  a 
woman  nor  to  man  as  a  man.  It  is  the  prin- 
ciple belonging  to  each  as  a  part  of  human- 
ity. It  is  the  principle  that  education  is  the 
development  of  a  human  being.  It  is  the 
principle  that  education  is  the  training  of  a 
human  spirit.  It  is  the  principle  that  educa- 
tion is  the  teaching  how  to  live.  Most  edu- 
cators agree  in  thus  defining  the  purpose  or 
work  of  education.  Comenius  and  Rousseau 
are  one  in  saying  that  education  is  the 
development  of  the  whole  complete  man. 
When  Milton,  in  a  well-known  passage, 
defines  a  liberal  education  as  that  *^  which 
fits  a  man  to  perform  justly,  skillfully  and 


20  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

magnanimously  all  the  offices,  both  private 
and  public,  of  peace  and  war,"  he  is  only 
elaborating  the  thought  of  his  fellow  coun- 
tryman, John  Locke,  that  education  is  the 
moulding  force  of  life.  Well  and  truly  did 
the  author  of  Emile  say  of  his  pupil :  ^  ^  To 
live  is  the  business  I  wish  to  teach.  When 
he  leaves  my  hands  I  acknowledge  that 
he  will  be  neither  magistrate,  soldier  nor 
priest;  he  will  be  first  of  all  a  man." 
**  Whatever  helps  to  shape  the  human 
being,"  says  John  Stuart  Mill  in  his  very 
able  rectorial  address  at  St.  Andrews,  ^ 
**to  make  the  individual  what  he  is,  or' 
hinder  him  from  being  what  he  is  not,  ' 
is  part  of  his  education."  The  college' 
**will  fail  of  its  high  purpose  if  it  ever 
makes  its  aim  the  education  of  the  teacher, 
the  physician,  the  business  woman.  Its 
high  aim  is  to  educate  womanhood — 
womanhood  trained  in  body,  mind  and 
spirit — womanhood  for  the  school,  the  sick- 
room, the  social  circle,  the  church,  the 
home — the     woman,     who,    whatever     else 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     2  I 

she  may  be,  scholar,  teacher,  journalist, 
business  manager,  wife,  mother — is  first 
of  all,  and  last  of  all,  the  refined  true 
woman."*  The  remark  is  still  true,  made 
long  ago  by  Harriet  Martineau,  that 
**  every  girl's  faculties  should  be  made  the 
most  of,  as  carefully  as  boys'."  f 

But  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  sex  is  a 
tremendously  significant  fact.  Its  signifi- 
cance in  the  field  of  education  is  not  for  a 
moment  to  be  called  in  question.  Sex  seems 
to  limit  the  field  of  work  into  which  women 
desire  to  go.  Absolute  freedom  should 
belon9[_to  each  woman  to  do  whatever__ghe 
wishes  to  do,  Jbut  the  fact  that  shejs  a 
woman  seems  usually  to  preclude  her  wish- 
ing to  enter  certain  vocations.  The  same 
remark  may  be  made  of  a  man.  Absolute 
freedom  should  belong  to  a  man  to  do  what- 
ever he  wishes  to  do,  but  the  fact  that  he  is 
a  man  seems  usually  to  preclude  his  wishing 

*  President  Taylor,  address,  at  Twenty-fifth  Anniversary 
of  Vassar  College,  p.  94. 

f  Household  Education,  ch.  XXI. 


2  2  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

to  enter  certain  vocations.  But  so  long  as 
the  family  remains  the  foundation  of  the 
social  order, — and  no  other  foundation  is 
yet  appearing, — so  long  will  most  women 
find  their  vocation  in  the  home  or  in  the 
school-room.  Therefore  the  large  majority 
of  college  women  will  be  found  engaged  in 
two  callings.  The  majority  of  college  men 
are  not  found  in  any  two  callings.  There- 
fore the  professional  future  of  a  college 
woman  may  be  prophesied  with  greater 
certainty  than  the  future  of  a  college  man. 
It  is  not,  however,  fitting  consciously  and 
specifically  to  train  women  to  become  wives. 
Such  a  definite  purpose  consciously  held  is 
not  pleasant  to  the  woman  who  is  a  student. 
She  rebels  against  a  regimen  which  is  fit- 
ting her  to  love  and  be  loved  supremely  by 
a  man  whom  she  has  never  heard  of  and  of 
whom  she  does  not  think  as  much  as  she 
does  of  the  man  in  the  moon.* 

■^  A  college  woman  writes,  saying :  "  I  think  you  will 
find  that  the  best  type  of  girls  usually  object  decidedly  to 
special  training  for  wifehood  and  motherhood;  or  to  having 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     23 

The  agreement  in  respect  to  the  purpose 
of  the  education  of  men  and  women  is  not 
disturbed  in  respect,  further,  to  the  agency 
or  content  of  education.  For  both  men 
and  women  truth  and  personality  are  the 
supreme  factors  in  education.  *^I  ask," 
says    Mr.    Froude,    **a    modern    march-of- 

their  thoughts  turned  in  that  direction,  before  they  reach  that 
phase  of  their  Hves ;  and  I  think  the  instinct  very  sound. 
Of  course,  this  is  the  opposite  of  the  traditional,  or  society, 
theory,  of  bringing  up  girls,  which  would  teach  them  from 
childhood  to  make  all  thoughts  turn  on  marriage  as  the  one 
object  of  their  lives.  I,  on  the  contrary,  am  strongly  pre- 
possessed in  favor  of  the  New  England  feeling  of  the  women 
of  my  ancestry  and  kin,  that  much  thought  about  marriage 
should  be  postponed  till  the  close  of  the  period  of  adoles- 
cence— till  the  close  of  the  college  period,  we  should  put  it 
nowadays.  I  don't  like  the  idea  of  the  young  girl,  who  has 
never  yet  been  in  love,  feeling  that  she  is  being  prepared  for 
wifehood  to  some  unknown  person ;  it  seems  to  me  much 
better  that  she  should  feel  that  she  is  developing  her  powers 
as  an  immortal  soul,  with  reference  to  any  destiny ;  studying 
science,  to  know  the  universe  she  lives  in,  history,  to  know 
the  experiences  of  her  race,  etc. ;  not  to  train  her  away  from 
marriage,  or  into  ambition  for  a  career  (not  but  that  nature 
will  manage  that  all  right,  even  if  she  is  thus  restrained? 
when  *  the  right  one  comes  along ; '  and  who  can  doubt 
that  girls  need  to  be  saved  from  any  need  of  taking  the 
wrong  one  ?)— but  as  a  young  human  being,  not  as  a  future 
wife." 


24  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

intellect  man,  what  education  is  for;  and 
he  tells  me  it  is  to  make  educated  men.  I 
ask  what  an  educated  man  is:  he  tells  me 
it  is  a  man  whose  intelligence  has  been 
cultivated,  who  knows  something  of  the 
world  he  lives  in — the  different  races  of 
men,  their  languages,  their  histories,  and 
the  books  that  they  have  written;  and 
again,  modern  science,  astronomy,  geology, 
physiology,  political  economy,  mathemat- 
ics, mechanics — everything  in  fact  which 
an  educated  man  ought  to  know."* 

This  question  of  the  part  which  I  have 
called  ** truth"  may  play  in  the  education 
of  women  is  changed  into  the  prosaic  and 
complex  question,  What  studies  should 
women  have  in  college  ?  The  question  is 
to  be  answered  for  the  present  purpose 
with  great  breadth. 

It  may  be  said  with  a  good  deal  of  truth- 
fulness that  it  matters  little  what  studies 
are  pursued  in  college.  Any  study  and 
every  has  value  as  an  intellectual  training 

*  Rectorial  addresses  at  St.  Andrews,  pp.  90,  91. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     25 

and  as  a  means  of  personal  development. 
It  is  certainly  true  that  the  method  of  pur- 
suing a  study  is  more  important  than  the 
subject  of  the  study  in  the  promotion  of 
development  and  of  discipline.  The  lan- 
guage of  the  Choctaw  may  be  so  studied 
as  to  prove  of  more  worth  than  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Greek ;  but  in  the  former  case 
the  method  is  excellent  and  in  the  latter 
bad.  But  it  is  also  to  be  said  that  the 
subject  of  the  study  has  value  as  well 
as  the  method.  The  language  of  the 
Greek  ought  to  be  so  studied  as  to  be 
of  more  value  than  the  language  of  the 
Choctaw. 

But  to  be  more  definite,  every  woman 
(like  every  man  in  most  respects)  going  from 
college,  should  go  possessing  certain  clearly 
defined  results  of  her  college  course: 

(i.)  She  should  have  a  healthy  body. 

(2.)  She  should  be  able  to  observe  closely. 

(3.)  She  should  be  able  to  reason  soundly. 

(4.)  She  should  know  something  in  many 
fields  of  knowledge. 


26  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

(5.)  She  should  know  much  in  one  field 
of  knowledge. 

(6.)  She  should  be  able  to  speak  and  to 
write  English  correctly. 

(7.)  She  should  have  a  moral  nature, 
clean  and  fine. 

(8.)  She  should  have  a  will,  well  trained, 
obedient  to  the  conscience. 

(9.)  She  should  be  impressed  with  a 
sense  of  the  value  of  work. 

(10.)  She  should  have  the  bearing  of  a 
true  lady. 

It  may  possibly  be  helpful  to  our  purpose 
to  discriminate  between  subjects  by  the 
epithets  disciplinary,  enriching,  and  utili- 
tarian. These  epithets  are  not  to  be 
pushed  too  far.  Every  study  is  at  once 
disciplinary  and  enriching  and  utilitarian. 
But  certain  studies  pre-eminently  represent 
one  of  these  qualities.  Should  women  in 
college  pursue  studies  of  which  the  pre- 
eminent value  lies  in  mental  training,  or 
in  intellectual  enrichment,  or  in  more 
material  usefulness  ?     The   answer   depends 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     2  J 

Upon  the  answer  to  a  pretty  broad  ques- 
tion: What  is  the  highest  demand  we 
make  of  woman  ?  What  are  the  qualities 
we  especially  prize  in  her  ? 

May  we  not  say  that  truth  and  beauty, 
large  -  mindedness  and  large  -  heartedness, 
graciousness  with  reserve,  sympathy  with- 
out sentimentality,  and  with  self-centred 
poise,  are  the  dearest  qualities  ?  These 
elements  are  the  pillars  and  the  orna- 
ments of  home  and  society,  without 
which  home  ceases  to  be  a  home  and 
becomes  a  house,  and  the  lack  of  which 
converts  decent  society  into  an  aggrega- 
tion of  savages.  In  trying  to  say  what 
qualities  are  specially  prized  in  woman- 
hood, one  is  tempted  to  quote  from  Mr. 
Ruskin.  He  says:  **The  man's  power  is 
active,  progressive,  defensive.  He  is  emi- 
nently the  doer,  the  creator,  the  dis- 
coverer, the  defender.  His  intellect  is  for 
speculation  and  invention;  his  energy  for 
adventure,  for  war,  and  for  conquest, 
whenever  war    is   just,    wherever   conquest 


28  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

necessary.  But  the  woman's  power  is  for 
rule,  not  for  battle — and  her  intellect  is 
not  for  invention  or  creation,  but  for  sweet 
ordering,  arrangement,  and  decision.  She 
sees  the  qualities  of  things,  their  claims 
and  their  places.*  - 

If  these  discriminations  be  in  general 
true — and  I  think  they  are — it  is  easy  to 
make  an  argument  in  behalf  of  studies 
which  I  have  called  ** enriching."  I  shall 
presently  suggest  the  duty  of  taking  up 
studies  to  which  I  have  applied  the  epi- 
thets '  *  disciplinary  "  and  *  *  utilitarian.  '* 
But  these  studies  which  have  the  result 
described  by  the  word  **  enrichment,"  I 
think,  are  peculiarly  precious  to  woman. 
I  may  say,  by  way  of  parenthesis,  that  the 
studies  which  I  count  as  enriching  are 
those  which  have  especially  to  do  with  the 
human  mind  and  its  immediate  works. 
Literature,  philosophy  and  history  repre- 
sent these  subjects  comprehensively.  In 
the  list  also  maybe  included  *^  Esthetics; " 

*  Of  Queens'  Gardens,  \  68. 


J 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OE  HER  STUDIES.     29 

but  this  subject  has  certain  peculiar  limita- 
tions as  a  college  study  when  it  is  applied 
to  sculpture,  architecture  or  painting. 
Literature  is  the  best  representative  af 
what  man  has  thought  and  felt ;  philosophy 
of  what  man  is;  history  of  what  man  has 
done. 

One  reason  for  the  assurance  that  women 
should  emphasize  such  subjects  lies  in  a 
fact  which,  I  am  sure,  will  to  some  savor 
more  of  sentimentality  than  of  truth. 
Women  stand  in  certain  significant  respects 
as  the  civilized  part  of  humanity.  Woman 
has,  above  man,  grace  and  the  graces, 
graciousness,  delicacy  of  thought,  of  feel- 
ing, self-forgetfulness,  love  of  the  beauti- 
ful, purity  of  heart — qualities  which  con- 
stitute the  finest  and  highest  parts  of 
civilization.  To  embody  these  elements, 
to  project  them  into  human  society,  is  the 
commission  which  she  can  fill  better  than 
man.  By  nature  possessing  these  qualities 
more  fully  than  man,  her  training  should 
continue    the    work    which    nature    began. 


30  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

The  study  of  literature,  of  philosophy,  and 
of  history  represents  the  method  and  the 
means  of  this  training;  for  these  subjects 
embody  and  represent  the  life  of  humanity. 
Literature,  in  its  narrow  interpretation,  is 
the  high-water  mark  of  the  rising  or  risen 
forces  of  civilization.  If  one  wishes  to  know 
Greek  life,  he  goes  to  Greek  literature, 
Roman,  to  Roman  literature,  English,'  to 
English  literature.  Knowing  literatures,  one 
knows  the  civilizations  out  of  which  the  liter- 
atures came  and  of  which  they  remain  a 
part.  With  such  a  treasure  possessed,  woman 
is  fitted  to  become  a  force  more  dominant, 
in  the  progress  of  the  human  family.  The 
human  being  in  his  best  and  most  charac- 
teristic elements  and  relations  is  revealed 
in  literature.  Literature  is  a  prophecy  of 
humanity,  a  microcosm  of  a  civilization 
achieved  or  to  be  achieved.  Therefore, 
woman  as  a  civilizing  force  should  love  it 
and  know  it,  and  should  know  it  and 
love  it. 

A    further    reason    for    the     pursuit    of 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     3  I 

enriching  studies  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  education  of  affairs  means  more  to  a 
man  than  to  a  woman.  The  life  of  the 
merchant  or  manufacturer  represents  a 
larger  number  of  relationships  than  the 
life  of  the  wife  of  the  merchant  or  of  the 
manufacturer.  One  especially  notes  this 
fact  in  following  the  lives  of  a  husband 
and  wife.  These  two  persons  began  their 
careers  together,  having  equal  culture  and 
limitations.  Forty  years  commonly  prove 
that  the  affairs  of  the  office  or  of  the  fac- 
tory have  increased  the  stores  of  knowl- 
edge, enlarged  the  intellectual  vision,  and 
disciplined  the  judgment  of  the  man.  But 
the  same  forty  years  in  the  parlor  and  the 
kitchen  have  not  served  to  augment  the 
original  powers  of  the  woman  of  the  home 
in  an  equal  degree.  It  is  evident,  there- 
fore, that  the  woman  in  college  should 
prepare  herself  by  every  possible  means  to 
meet  conditions  which  tend  to  raise  lim- 
itations to  an  increase  of  her  intellectual 
riches.     She  should  lay  in  so  large  reserve 


32  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 


1 


funds  that  many  and  long  continued  drafts 
will  not  reduce  her  to  what  she  may  be 
inclined  to  think  is  an  intellectual  bank- 
ruptcy. Most  women  will  not  be  so  ham- 
pered as  was  Mary  Somerville  in  her  early 
life.  But  many  women  will  find  them- 
selves prevented  from  feeding  in  the  pas- 
tures of  knowledge  rich  and  new.  It  is 
better  to  think  of  the  mind  as  an  engine 
for  doing  than  as  a  storehouse  for  receiv- 
ing and  retaining,  but  there  is  some  truth 
in  the  application  of  the  .  method  of  the 
camel,  of  filling  his  many  stomachs  with 
food  before  he  starts  out  on  a  long  journey, 
through  the  desert. 

One  great  advantage  of  the  pursuit  of 
the  enriching  studies  of  literature,  philoso- 
phy and  history,  lies  in  the  fact  that  the 
life  which  many  women  lead  is  a  solitary 
one.  The  college  woman,  as  any  woman 
who  becomes  a  wife,  finds  that  before  chil- 
dren come  to  her  home  there  are  several 
hours  of  each  ordinary  day  spent  alone,  and 
she    finds    that    after    the   children    are   so 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     33 

grown  up  as  to  be  at  school  she  is  also 
alone  several  hours  of  each  day.  A  life 
solitary  is  a  life  reflective.  A  reflective 
life,  if  it  be  not  possessed  of  a  well-stocked 
mind,  turns  in  upon  itself.  Such  self-re- 
flection is  not  good.  The  reflective  life,  if 
it  be  possessed  of  a  well-stocked  mind,  turns 
to  these  riches  of  knowledge.  Such  reflec- 
tion is  good.  It  discovers  new  truths  and 
new  relations,  making  riches  already  pos- 
sessed larger  and  character  nobler.  But 
while  her  children  are  about  her,  her 
life  is  far  other  than  solitary.  It  is  filled 
with  many  persons  and  manifold  experi- 
ences. The  advantage  of  a  college  educa- 
tion under  these  conditions  is  well  expressed 
by  a  graduate,  who  says : 

*  *  College  should  be  a  place  for  the  train- 
ing of  ideal  women  and  not  of  ideal  students, 
for  this  is  incompatible  with  the  first.  In 
thinking  over  my  own  teachers,  those  that 
have  held  the  most  important  place  in  my 
growth  have  been  those  that,  although 
specialists  in  their  departments,  had  a  broad, 


34  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

catholic  spirit  in  matters  intellectual.  As 
in  teaching,  so  in  all  matters  of  life,  the 
perfect  education  ought  to  broaden  the 
sympathies,  awaken  interest  in  all  things 
good,  ennoble  and  train  the  judgment  and 
discrimination."  Such  results  are  gained 
through  enriching  studies. 

The  enlargement  and  discipline  of  the 
reflective  powers,  however,'  may  have  cer- 
tain untoward  results.  Woman  is  at  the 
present  day  less  able  as  an  administrator  and 
executive  than  man.  But  the  demand  that 
she  be  able  to  administer  and  execute  is 
strong.  The  opportunity  for  service  of  this 
character  is  great.  A  large  share  of  the 
philanthropic  and  ecclesiastical  work  of  the 
world  is  coming  into  her  hands.  This  work 
she  should  become  amply  qualified  to  do. 
The  training  of  the  reflective  powers  is  ac- 
companied ofttimes  by  a  lessening  of  the 
executive  abilities.  Therefore  it  may  prove 
that  in  the  case  of  some  persons  the  disci- 
pline of  the  perceptive  powers  is  a  better 
preparation   for    the    exercise   of    executive 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     35 

talent   than   the  discipline   of  the  reflective 
capacity. 

This  word  ''  discipline,"  as  used  in  relation 
to  the  work  of  the  college,  has  gathered  to 
itself  many  meanings,  some  worthy,  some 
unworthy.  But  it  is  never  to  be  denied  that 
discipline  represents  the  most  important  part 
in  the  development  of  a  soul — and  this  de- 
velopment the  college  is  ordained  to  pro- 
mote. The  disciplinary  studies,  therefore, 
take  to  themselves  a  precious  value,  especi- 
ally in  the  first  years  of  the  course.  To  per- 
ceive, to  reason,  to  think,  to  weigh  evidence 
— these  are  the  purposes  of  the  disciplinary 
studies.  They  are  purposes  which  the  col- 
lege should  aid  each  women  in  securing.  If 
she  fail  to  secure  them,  her  development 
is  in  peril  of  becoming,  not  development 
indeed,  but  only  an  increase  of  mass.  En- 
richment of  mind  without  discipline  is  mere 
mental  gorging.  Discipline  of  mind  without 
enrichment  forms  the  skeleton.  Discipline 
and  enrichment  represent  a  large,  full,  articu- 
late life. 


36  THE  COLLEGE   IVOMAAT. 

In  the  promotion  of  discipline,  certain  stud- 
ies are  of  great  value.  They  are  studies  of 
which  the  ordinary  college  woman  is  not 
fond.  They  are  the  mathematical  and  phys- 
ical sciences — the  exact  sciences.  It  is  to  be 
said  that  exactness,  accuracy  are  chief  notes 
in  discipline.  It  is,  moreover,  to  be  said 
that  accuracy  in  thinking  is  an  intellectual 
virtue  in  which  women  need  special  training. 

The  dislike  of  a  study  constitutes  a  reason 
for  pursuing  it ;  but  of  itself  not  a  sufficient 
reason.  The  dislike  indicates  a  certain  intel- 
lectual emptiness  which  the  study  is  supposed 
to  do  something  toward  filling,  a  certain 
mental  dullness  which  the  study  is  supposed 
to  whet  and  to  make  over  into  keenness;  but 
the  expense  of  studying  a  distasteful  sub- 
ject may  be  altogether  too  great;  the  same 
labor  spent  upon  another  subject  may  prove 
far  more  remunerative.  The  law  of  dimin- 
ishing returns  has  educational  value.  Many 
a  conscientious  student  chooses  a  study 
which  she  does  not  like  on  the  simple  ground 
that  she  does    not    like    it.     Such    selection 


rilE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES,     37 

may  be  had  in  the  earlier  part  of  one's 
course,  but  should  not  be  suffered  in  the 
later.  Natural  preferences  indicate  natural 
abilities;  and  natural  abilities  are  prophecies 
having  the  force  of  commandments. 

Of  course,  studies  that  are  disciplinary  and 
enriching-  are  aboundingly  useful,  and  are 
useful  in  the  proportion  in  which  they  are 
disciplinary  and  enriching.  But  we  apply 
the  epithet  *' utilitarian"  to  certain  studies 
which  are  useful  in  material  or  physical  re- 
lations. Of  certain  of  such  studies  the  col- 
lege woman  should  be  the  master. 

I  recently  asked  the  fourteen  hundred  and 
more  members  of  the  Collegiate  Alumnae 
Association  what  studies  were  in  their  judg- 
ment of  especial  value  to  women  as  women. 

Their  replies  may  be  so  classified  as  to 
show  that  out  of  the  274  which  w^ere  re- 
ceived, 87  women  judged  that  physiology, 
hygiene,  and  affiliated  subjects  were  of 
especial  value;  60  judged  that  social  and 
political  science;  34  judged  that  ethical 
science;    30   judged   that   domestic   science; 


38  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

24  judged  that  psychology;  24  judged  that 
EngHsh,  and  15  judged  that  sanitary  science, 
were  studies  of  peculiar  value  to  women  as 
women.  These  two  higher  numbers,  repre- 
senting physiology  and  social  science,  are 
exceedingly  significant.  For  the  health  of 
the  American  woman  seems  to  form  a  de- 
partment of  medical,  social  and  sociological 
science.  The  facts  prove  that  women  them- 
selves appreciate  the  value  of  studies  re- 
lating to  their  own  physical  being. 

It  is  also  evident  that  sociological  ques- 
tions are  regarded  by  women  as  of  extreme 
importance  in  their  college  education.  In 
this  judgment  all  would  probably  agree. 
For  social  and  economic  questions  are  the 
burning  questions  of  to-day.  They  are  to 
be  the  burning  questions  of  to-morrow. 
If  American  civilization  is  to  develop  into 
greater  elaborateness  and  more  fitting  ad- 
justments, the  development  is  to  be  accom- 
panied by  the  discussion  of  social  and 
economic  questions.  These  questions  do  not 
belong  to   a   stable  social  order.     They  be- 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HEP  STUDIES.     39 

long  to  an  advancing  or  declining  social 
order.  The  changes  in  social  and  economic 
conditions  which  have  occurred  in  the  last 
twenty  years  have  created  social  and  eco- 
nomic problems.  These  problems  are  no- 
where more  serious  than  in  the  new  and 
advancing  conditions  of  the  United  States. 

These  problems  are  of  wide  inclusiveness. 
What  they  do  not  include  is  small  in  com- 
parison with  what  they  do.  The  vast  do- 
main of  political  economy  and  social  science 
is  embraced.  And  this  domain  covers  no 
small  share  of  all  the  human  relations  of 
modern  times  —  all  that  relates  to  capital 
and  to  labor,  not  only  in  their  relation  to 
each  other,  but  also  in  their  relation  to  all 
other  conditions,  the  proper  number  of 
hours  a  day  of  work,  the  limitation  of  such 
hours  by  statute,  the  righteousness  of  the 
accumulation  of  large  wealth  by  individuals, 
the  limitation  of  such  accumulation  by  stat- 
ute, wages  in  all  their  manifold  relations, 
machinery  in  the  manifold  relations  which 
it  bears  to  manual  work,  the  currency,  the 


40  THE  COLLEGE  WOMAN, 

tariff  on  imports,  transportation,  taxation, 
the  causes  of  industrial  depression,  the  peri- 
odicity of  crises — these  and  a  thousand  other 
questions  go  to  make  up  the  one  great 
question,  social  and  economic.  The  problem 
has  a  more  fundamental  relation,  touching 
the  very  organization  of  society,  in  compe- 
tition. Competition  has  been  the  basis  of 
the  economic  order.  Shall  this  basis  con- 
tinue, or  shall  combination  take  the  place 
of  competition  ?  The  question  is  also  fun- 
damental in  respect  to  the  individual. 
Shall  the  individual  continue  to  be  the 
social  unit,  or  shall  society  itself  in  some 
aggregate  form  become   the  social  unit  ? 

The  importance  of  giving  the  right  answer 
to  these  questions  it  is  impossible  to  over- 
estimate. American  destiny  depends  upon 
the  answer.  In  giving  the  right  answer  the 
colleges  should  offer  the  highest  and  worthi- 
est help.  These  questions  can  be  answered 
only  through  careful  thinking,  exact  dis- 
crimination, disciplined  reasoning. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  sociological 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     4 1 

Studies  unite  the  three  elements  of  discipline, 
enrichment  and  usefulness.  These  subjects 
are  profound  and  complex,  and  the  methods 
pursued  in  their  investigation  erudite.  Such 
studies  relate  to  humanity  in  many  and 
diverse  relations.  Accurate  knowledge  of 
the  principles  underlying  them  and  the  power 
of  applying  these  principles  to  social  con- 
ditions are  of  the  utmost  worth  in  securing 
the  progress  of  mankind,  in  removing  the 
evil  and  in  promoting  the  good  of  the  world. 

Courses  in  what  has  been  called  domestic 
science  also  represent  the  utilitarian  side  of 
the  college  training.  Such  courses  are  open 
to  the  peril  which  certain  courses  in  the  col- 
lege for  men  are  subjected  to — of  belonging 
more  to  the  professional  than  to  the  under- 
graduate curriculum.  When  this  subject  is 
taken  up,  however,  in  its  large  relations  it  is 
worthy  of  being  coordinated  with  subjects 
as  important  as  chemistry  and  history. 
These  relations  concern  primarily  the  fam- 
ily as  a  social  institution. 

No  peculiar  relation   of  cause  and   effect 


42  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

can  be  detected  existing  between  the  two 
movements,  but  it  is  the  fact  that  the  rise  of 
college  education  for  women  has  been  con- 
temporaneous with  the  rise  of  the  elective 
system  of  studies.  They  are  both  move- 
ments toward  individuality  and  freedom. 
Matthew  Vassar  began  his  great  work  in  the 
college  bearing  his  name  four  years  before 
President  Eliot  began  his  great  work  at  Har- 
vard. Vassar  College  has  done  more  for  the 
higher  education  of  women  than  any  other 
college ;  and  President  Eliot  has,  through  his 
progressive  policy,  and  especially  through  his 
advocacy  of  the  elective  system,  done  more 
for  the  higher  education  of  both  men  and 
women  than  any  other  educator  of  the  time. 
The  contrast  between  the  new  education 
with  its  freedom  and  the  old  education  with 
its  limitations  is  sharp.  The  old  education 
included  the  studies  representing  the  chief 
knowledges  of  its  time.  But  these  fields  of 
knowledge  were  narrow.  Their  limits  were 
quickly  reached.  The  last  twenty-five  years 
have  seen  a  vast  enlargement  of  the  domain 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     43 

,  of  scholarship.  Even  the  increasing  bulki- 
ness  of  the  college  catalogues  is  significant. 
Comparing  the  catalogue  of  the  current 
year  with  the  catalogue  of  the  year  1869-70, 
it  is  made  evident  that  courses  in  almost 
every  one  of  the  great  departments  are 
offered,  which  no  less  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  were  not  thought  of,  or  which, 
had  they  been  thought  of,  no  teacher 
could  have  been  found  able  to  teach,  or 
which,  if  a  teacher  able  to  teach  could 
have  been  found,  no  pupil  desiring  such 
instruction  could  have  been  discovered. 
Vast  has  been  the  increase  of  knowledge 
in  mathematics  in  its  relation  to  physics; 
and  physics  in  the  realm  of  electricity  has 
become  a  subject  of  unparalleled  discover- 
ies. Biology  has  opened  the  doors  of 
life  to  the  ordinary  student.  Chemistry, 
through  many  departments,  has  increased 
and  enriched  its  relationships.  Philosophy 
has  absolutely  changed  its  point  of  view 
of  studying  metaphysical  problems,  and 
has  many-fold  enlarged  its  field  of  observa- 


44  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

tion.  Philosophy  has  become  psychological, 
and  has  ceased  to  be  purely  ontological. 
Political  economy  has  broadened  into  social 
science,  compelled  and  eager  to  consider 
the  terribly  serious  sociological  problems 
of  our  generation.  History  has  revolu- 
tionized its  methods;  its  study  has  been 
made  at  once  more  comprehensive  and 
more  minute  in  subject,  as  well  as  more 
scientific  in  method.  The  modern  lan- 
guages have  assumed  a  very  large  place 
in  the  curriculum.  Even  the  ancient  lan- 
guages are  spreading  their  literatures  be- 
fore the  ordinary  reader  in  a  richness  and 
variety  formerly  known  only  to  the  scholar- 
ly recluse.  Thus  in  every  department  of 
study  has  the  enlargement  been  made. 
The  college  offers  this  increasing  number 
of  studies  to  the  student  because  the 
knowledges  of  the  world  have  also  in- 
creased. It  is  also  true  that  the  increas- 
ing number  of  studies  has  further  resulted 
in  the  enlargement  of  the  field  of  knowl- 
edge.    So   long    as    the   college   has   to   do 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     45 

with  knowledge,  so  long  must  it  seek  to 
offer  to  its  students  an  opportunity  for 
knowledge;  and  the  wider  and  deeper  be- 
comes knowledge  itself,  and  the  more  various 
its  fields,  the  more  adequate  must  become 
the  facilities  provided  by  the  colleges  for 
its  pursuit.  The  best  way  to  prevent  this 
constant  growth  of  the  curriculum  is  to 
stop  the  growth  of  knowledge.  The  best 
way  to  stop  the  growth  of  knowledge  is  to 
make  all  men — fools.  So  long  as  men 
observe  and  think,  so  long  will  there  be 
an  enlargement  of  the  course  of  study. 
The  college  as  the  fostering  mother  of  the 
sciences  and  literatures  cannot  but  nourish 
every,  scholarly  interest  which  the  Zeit- 
Geist  lays  in  her  lap.  It  is  the  age,  not 
the  college,  which  is  to  be  held  responsible 
for  the  elective  system;  it  is  the  age,  not 
the  college,  which  is  to  be  held  responsible 
for  the  vast  increase  in  the  number  of  the 
courses  of  study.  When  humanity  is 
enlarging  its  stores  of  knowledge  and  of 
culture,   the    colleges    can    either   recognize 


46  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

or  refuse  to  recognize  this  enlarging.  If 
they  refuse  to  recognize  it  they  are  com- 
mitting suicide,  and  indeed  they  ought  to 
die;  if  they  recognize  this  enlarging,  they 
feel  the  consequent  duty  of  enlarging 
their  facilities  in  a  proportionate  degree. 

But  this  increase  in  the  number  of  studies 
does  not  carry  with  it  an  obligation  on  the 
part  of  every  student  to  increase  the  number 
of  studies  which  she  herself  pursues.  Her 
individual  powers  are  as  limited  as  were  her 
mother's.  She  cannot  double  her  hours  of 
work.  The  question  is,  therefore,  pressed 
upon  every  college  as  to  the  methods  it  will 
permit  the  student  to  employ  in  availing 
herself  of  the  increasing  intellectual  wealth 
of  humanity.  Different  colleges  offer  differ- 
ent answers.  The  general  answer  is  repre- 
sented in  the  elective  system.  This  general 
answer  covers  specific  and  varying  answers, 
embodying  the  different  extents  to  which 
the  elective  system  is  carried.  The  system 
may  be  either  partially  or  it  may  be  com- 
pletely elective.     It  may  not  begin  till  the 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OE  HER  STUDIES.     47 

Senior,  it  may  begin  with  the  Freshman, 
year;  it  may  cover  only  one  study  of  the 
Senior  year,  it  may  embrace  every  study  of 
the  curriculum  of  the  four  years. 

The  importance  of  the  elective  system  is 
in  proportion  to  its  extent.  If  a  student 
can  elect  only  one  study  of  one  year,  it  is 
of  no  serious  consequence  if  she  make  a 
wrong  choice.  If  she  elect  each  study  of 
each  year,  wrong  choices  debase  her  whole 
collegiate  career.  It  is  to  be  said  that  the 
elections  made  by  students  at  the  college 
that  is  the  notable  representative  of  the 
elective  system,  are  remarkably  wise. 
Though,  I  may  be  permitted  to  say,  they 
do  not  seem  to  me  to  be  as  wise  as  to 
many  able  judges,  yet  I  am  free  to  con- 
fess that  they  are  wiser  than  a  priori  reason- 
ing would  lead  me  to  think.  The  two  perils 
belonging  to  these  elections  are  haphazard- 
ness  and  narrowness.  The  student  is  in 
danger  of  making  her  elective  system  no 
system  at  all,  choosing  courses  she  likes,  or 
courses  that  are  '^soft,"  or  courses  in  which 


48  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

high  marks  are  usually  given.  This  hap- 
hazardness  may  result  in  the  second  peril 
suggested,  narrowness,  for  she  may  elect 
her  studies  from  one  subject  or  two  on  the 
ground  that  she  can  pursue  them  with  little 
or  less  labor.  But  usually  haphazardness  in- 
dicates a  large  variety  of  choices ;  a  course  in 
mathematics,  a  course  in  Greek,  two  courses 
in  French,  three  in  sciences,  etc.  Such  a 
variety  is  indeed  hardly  greater  than  the 
old  education,  with  such  patches  of  im- 
provements as  certain  colleges  have  tried  to 
lay  on  it,  offers;  but  such  variety  represents 
intellectual  dissipation.  It  lacks  that  thor- 
oughness of  intellectual  discipline  which  the 
old  and  genuine  education  did  give ;  it  also 
lacks  that  richness  of  culture  which  the  new 
education  provides.  Women  who  graduate, 
having  pursued  such  desultory  and  discon- 
nected subjects,  and  in  such  superficiality  as 
this  desultoriness  necessitates,  have  not 
received  from  their  college  what  they  ought. 
College  has  been  to  them  neither  an  inspi- 
ration, nor  an  enrichment,  nor  an  education. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     49 

A  second  peril  of  the  elective  system  is 
narrowness.  This  peril  shows  itself  in  the 
student  choosing  all  her  studies  from  the 
Freshmen  year  on  with  too  direct  reference 
to  her  future  work. 

But  these  objections  have  slight  force  when 
put  by  the  side  of  the  one  comprehensive 
argument  for  the  elective  system — the  devel- 
opment of  the  individual  herself. 

That  form  of  the  elective  system  which  is 
known  as  a  combination  of  the  group  system 
and  of  free  electives  seems  to  me  to  be  the 
best.  Such  a  system  may  begin  with  the 
beginning  of  the  course,  or  at  a  later  year. 
In  most  colleges  for  women,  I  judge  it  better 
begin  with  the  Junior  than  with  the  Fresh- 
man year. 

The  group  system  as  a  system  is  designed 
to  direct  the  attention  of  the  student  toward 
her  work  in  life,  and  toward  the  general 
method  of  preparation  for  doing  this  work. 
The  special  studies  which  constitute  this 
method  and  which  compose  a  group  are  sub- 
sidiary to  the  method  and  to  the  group.    The 


50  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

aim  of  her  college  course  is  presented  as 
more  immediate,  the  method  for  securing 
this  aim  is  presented  as  more  comprehensive 
and  more  compact  than  is  possible  under  any- 
other  system.  The  peril  of  ill-regulated 
choice  is  lessened.  The  peril  of  narrowness 
in  choice  is  not  increased.  Through  the 
combination  of  the  prescribed  courses  of  the 
first  two  years,  and  of  the  group  system  with 
the  free  electives  of  the  last  two  years,  a 
college  graduate  should  be  able  to  know 
enough  about  many  things  to  deserve  to  be 
called  liberally  educated,  and  yet  should  not 
know  so  little  about  all  things  as  to  merit  the 
charge  of  being  superficial.  Her  education 
is  at  once  broad  and  thorough.  She  is  pre- 
pared to  become  a  specialist.  She  is  not  un- 
prepared for  being  a  woman. 

The  following  represents  a  group  system 
covering  the  larger  part  of  the  time  of  the 
last  two  years  of  a  college  course.  It  has 
proved  of  value  in  Adelbert  College  of 
Western  Reserve  University: 


.  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  HER  STUDIES.     5  I 
I. 

CLASSICAL  GROUP. 

Latin  :  Language  and  literature.  3  hours  a  week,  two 
years, 

Gj-eek :  Language  and  literature.  3  hours  a  week,  two 
years. 

II. 

MATHEMATICAL-PHYSICAL  GROUP. 

Mathematics,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one- half. 
Physics,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one-half. 
Chemistry,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 
English  Literature,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 

III. 

CHEMICAL-BIOLOGICAL   GROUP. 

Chemistiy,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one-half. 
Biology,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one-half. 
Geology,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 
English  Literature,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 

IV. 

PHYSICAL-CHEMICAL   GROUP. 

Physics,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one-half. 
Chemistry,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one-half. 
Mathematics,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 
English  Literature,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 


52  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

V. 

GEOLOGICAL-CHEMICAL   GROUP. 

Geology,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one-half. 
Chemistry,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one-half. 
Biology,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 
English  Literature,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 

VI. 

TEUTONIC  GROUP. 

German,  3  hours  a  week,  two  years. 
Anglo-Saxon,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 
History  of  German  Literature,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half- 
year. 

English  Literature,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year. 

VII. 

ROMANCE    GROUP. 

French,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year  and  one-half. 
Italian,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year. 
Spanish,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year. 
Latin,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year, 

VIII. 

ENGLISH    GROUP. 

English  History,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 
Rhetoric,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year. 
Anglo-Saxon,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 
English  Literature,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 
English  Philosophy,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 


THE  PRINCIPLE  OE  HEP  STUDIES.     53 


HISTORICAL-POLITICAL   GROUP. 

American  Political  History  since  1783,  3  hours  a  week, 
one  year,  1893-94,  and  1895-96. 

English  Constitutional  History,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half- 
year,  1894-95. 

Modern  European  History  and  Politics  since  1789,  3 
hours  a  week,  one  half-year,  1893-94,  and  1895-96. 

Anthropology,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year,  1894-95. 

American  Colonial  History,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half- 
year,  1894-95. 

English  Political  History  since  1760,  3  hours  a  week,  one 
half-year,  1893-94,  and  1895-96. 

Political  Economy,  advanced  course,  or  International 
Law,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year,  1894-95. 

X. 

PHILOSOPHICAL   GROUP. 

Psychology  and  Logic,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year. 

Ethics  and  Sociology,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year. 

History  of  Philosophy,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year. 

Education  and  Religion,  3  hours  a  week,  one  year,  or 
f  Anthropology,  3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year,  and 
\  Political  Economy,  advanced  course,  or  International  Law, 
L     3  hours  a  week,  one  half-year. 


54  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

III. 

HER    ENVIRONMENT. 

One  of  the  most  eminent  of  American 
physicians  has  said  that  to  him,  as  a  physi- 
cian, woman  is  quite  unlike  man.  *^  She  is 
physiologically  other  than  the  man."*  Wom- 
an is  certainly  a  more  highly  organized  being 
than  man.  If  one  read  into  or  read  from  the 
record  of  the  first  of  Genesis  that  the  scien- 
tific principle  of  the  continuance  of  the  cre- 
ative process  is  marked  by  ascending  degrees 
of  life,  he  finds  himself  obliged  to  say  that 
woman  represents  the  highest  point  of  devel- 
opment. The  scientific  and  Biblical  prin- 
ciple is  well  embodied  in  Burns's  lines, 

Her  'prentice  ban'  she  tried  on  man, 
y  An'  then  she  made  the  lasses,  O  ! 

I  will  not  say  that  the  higher  and  more 
complex  organization  of  women  renders  the 

*S.  Weir  Mitchell,  "  Doctor  and  Patient,"  p.  13. 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  55 

problem  of  their  education  more  difficult  or 
less  pleasant  to  work  at,  but  it  does  throw 
this  problem  into  certain  conditions  and  re- 
lations which  are  not  for  a  single  instant  to 
be  forgotten.  The  question  of  physical 
vigor  and  endurance  must  be  more  con- 
stantly, if  not  more  severely,  studied  in  the 
case  of  college  women  than  of  college  men. 
The  question  also  of  the  relation  of  the  col- 
lege student  to  society  requires  a  more  dis- 
criminating attention  in  the  case  of  women 
than  of  men.  The  question,  further,  of  per- 
sonal manners  or  bearing  is,  in  the  view  of 
most  persons,  of  larger  import  in  the  case 
of  the  college  woman  than  of  the  college  man. 
A  woman,  a  teacher  in  the  University  of 
Illinois,  writes  me,  saying:  ^*  Less  departure 
from  the  decent  and  conventional  standard 
of  appearance  and  manners  is  excused  in  a 
woman  than  in  a  man.  A  woman  with 
rough,  unrefined  manners,  an  ill-kept  body, 
and  ugly  clothes  is  criticised  more  sharply 
than  a  man  of  the  same  ability  would  be. 
Such  faults  affect  her  intellectual  and  social 


56  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

status  among  her  fellows  and  the  world  at 
large  more  than  they  affect  a  man."  Such 
facts  college  women,  and  all  women,  often 
think  of  with  sorrow,  and  as  being  biirdens 
which  nature  or  humanity  unnecessarily  and  , 
ungraciously  lays  upon  them.  In  such  a 
regret  one  cannot  but  sympathize.  But,  for 
the  present,  at  least,  it  seems  that  college 
women  must  be  so  conditioned  that  they  are 
to  find  compensations  for  these  restrictions 
in  a  larger  liberty  elsewhere. 

One  cannot  forget  that  each  woman  enter- 
ing college  is  in  part  the  child  of  conditions 
and  circumstances  of  her  home,  of  her  fit- 
ting-school, and,  indeed,  of  a  past  both 
recent  and  remote.  For  better  or  for  worse, 
home  and  other  agencies  have  made  her 
what  she  is.  It  is  quite  clear  that  she  has 
probably  had  a  harder  task  to  fit  herself  for 
college  than  her  brother.  It  is  not  yet  made 
so  easy  and  natural  in  the  ordinary  family 
for  her  to  go  to  college  as  for  her  brother. 
Her  time  has  had  more  and  severer  inroads 
made  upon  it  than  his.     The   duties  which 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  57 

she  may  be  supposed  to  owe  her  little 
social  circle,  or  her  church,  or  her  parents, 
she  is  more  inclined  to  recognize  than  she 
probably  would  if  she  had  the  misfortune 
of  being  a  boy.  She  has  not  been  allowed 
to  think  that  she  has  the  same  right  to 
be  selfish  as  her  brother.  The  demand 
which  he  may  make  for  an  evening  of  study 
is  regarded  as  laudable,  it  is  respected ;  the 
similar  demand  which  she  may  ask  for  her- 
self is  in  peril  of  being  interpreted  as  a  bit 
of  crankiness. 

To  the  young  woman  who  enters  college 
the  very  simple  and  commonplace  question 
of  room,  board,  clothes,  exercise,  sleep,  is  a 
pretty  fundamental  one.  In  certain  respects 
this  question  involves  the  most  important 
conditions  in  the  college  training  of  women. 
The  young  woman  in  the  American  college 
has  not  usually  been  so  well  placed  as  the 
young  man.  In  the  first  years  at  Vassar  she 
was  frequently  found  forming  one  of  a  quin- 
tet who  occupied  a  suite  consisting  of  one 
parlor    and    three    bedrooms.     It    may    be 


58  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

added  that  two  of  these  bedrooms  had  no 
light  or  air  immediately  from  out-of-doors. 
But  now  Vassar  in  a  new  dormitory,  Bryn 
Mawr  in  certain  houses,  and  the  College  for 
Women  of  Western  Reserve  University  at 
Cleveland,  and  at  least  one  other  college, 
are  giving  a  suite  of  three  rooms  to  two 
students;  or  even  two  rooms  to  a  single 
student.  This  is  simply  good  house-keeping ; 
it  is  only  justice.  But  women  did  not  have 
these  advantages  till  Harvard  men  had  been 
having  for  more  than  fifty  years  the  large 
suites  of  three  rooms  in  Holworthy.  No 
student  should  study  and  sleep  in  the  same 
room.  It  is  bad  enough  for  one  woman  to 
occupy  one  room  for  twenty-four  hours,  but 
for  two  women  to  occupy  one  room  demands 
epithets  which  I  do  not  now  care  to  use. 
It  is  shameless  and  cruel  to  house  our  col- 
lege women  as  we  have  been  housing  them, 
and  as  we  are  still  in  certain  colleges  hous- 
ing them.  Poverty  is  the  only  excuse;  and 
how  far  poverty  is  an  excuse  may  be  ques- 
tioned.    It  is   a  strange  thing  indeed  that, 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  59 

in  all  these  recent  years,  when  women  have 
been  endowing  colleges  and  fitting  schools 
for  men,  they  have  not  done  more — though 
they  have  done  much — to  make  the  con- 
ditions of  the  education  of  their  sisters  and 
daughters  what  hygienic  common  sense  and 
fundamental  piety  demand. 

But  this  crowded  condition  of  students  in 
a  single  room,  or  in  a  suite  of  rooms,  is  only 
symbolic.  This  room  or  suite  is  one  of  a 
score  of  other  similar  rooms  or  suites  closely 
related  to  it.  The  dormitory  represents  a 
side  of  college  life  unique  and  valuable  in 
many  ways  for  young  men;  for  young 
women  it  is  no  less  unique  and  valuable. 
In  certain  respects  it  is  even  more  necessary 
for  women  than  for  men.  It  has  perils,  of 
course.  If  to  men  it  is  beset  by  the  peril 
of  a  lack  of  personal  and  official  super- 
vision, to  young  women  dormitory  life  is 
beset  by  the  peril  of  nervous  strain  and  , 
of  too  much  supervision.  If  always  to  be 
alone  produces  much  nervousness,  never  to 
be    alone   produces  more    nervousness.     So 


60  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

important  is  this  truth  that  a  graduate  has 
written  to  me,  saying :  *  ^  I  believe  that  a 
college  woman  of  good  health,  who  boards 
outside  of  the  college  buildings  in  a  private 
family,  is  able  to  devote  all  the  time  from 
seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  ten  o'clock 
at  night — fifteen  hours  (with  the  exception 
of  four  hours  each  day,  three  of  which  are 
to  be  set  aside  for  three  meals) — to  her 
work;  one  hour  of  these  four  is  to  be 
devoted  to  exercise  in  the  open  air.  The 
woman  who  resides  outside  of  the  college 
walls  has  a  more  wholesome  atmosphere  in 
her  life,  and  has  less  strain  upon  her  nerves, 
than  the  woman  in  the  dormitory.  The 
woman  in  the  dormitory  must  spend  an 
extra  hour  per  day  for  rest  and  recreation." 
It  is,  of  course,  to  be  said  that  freedom 
should  be  the  atmosphere  of  the  dormitory, 
as  of  the  home ;  but  wherever  many  women 
are  housed,  rights  must  be  somewhat  limited 
to  each  in  order  to  secure  rights  for  all.. 
The  more  thoroughly  homelike,  therefore,  in 
respect  to  the  ordinary  living  arrangements 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  6 1 

the  dormitory  can  be  made,  the  better  it  is 
for  each  student.  It  should  be  designed  for 
only  a  few  persons — not  over  forty — with 
chamber  and  study  large ;  and  its  administra- 
tion should  be  conducted  with  as  few  rules 
as  possible,  and  through  as  large  and  sweet 
and  gracious  personalities  on  the  part  of  its 
mistresses  as  can  be  secured. 

The  simple  fact  that,  as  a  rule,  women  eat 
less  than  men  is  an  important  and  perplex- 
ing question  in  their  education.*  Not  only 
do  they  eat  less,  but  the  food  which  they  are 
inclined  to  eat  is  too  often  not  of  the  sort 
which  they  ought  to  eat.  A  graduate  has 
written  to  me  that  more  girls  are  injured  by 
eating  too  much  candy  than  by  too  late 
hours.  The  officers  of  the  colleges  now 
understand  what  sort  of  food  their  students 


^  Through  experiments  conducted  in  1872  and  1873,  in 
Boston,  it  was  found  that  the  average  food-value  in  grams 
taken  by  each  woman,  a  student,  was  :  proteid,  22.8 ;  fat,  27.1 ; 
carbohydrates,  120.2,  and  calories,  827.4.  The  food-value  for 
each  man,  also  a  student,  was  :  proteid,  29  ;  fat,  y]."}^ ;  carbo- 
hydrates, 106.6,  and  calories,  894.8. — Rumford  Kitchen 
Leaflets,  No.  7,  pp.  8  and  12;  by  Mrs.  Ellen  H.  Richards. 


62  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

should  eat,  and  spread  a  table  usually  proper 
in  amount,  quality  and  variety.  I  have  had 
the  pleasure  of  looking  at  the  market  ac- 
counts of  certain  colleges,  and  I  know  that 
the  market  bills  are  big  enough  to  result  in 
excellent  fare.  Of  course,  one  expects  to 
hear  of  more  or  less  complaining.  Is  it  not 
a  part  of  the  social  duty  of  one  who  sits  at 
a  table  other  than  in  one's  own  home  as  a 
boarder,  to  offer  a  certain  amount  of  criti- 
cism of  the  food  ?  Individual  tastes  founded 
upon  the  training  of  home,  too,  show  great 
variety.  I  have  known,  for  instance,  of  girls 
born  and  bred  in  the  South  complaining  that 
the  table  set  at  Wellesley  College  had  too 
much  roast  beef !  It  would  not  be  usual,  I 
think,  to  find  girls  of  New  England  com- 
plaining of  too  much  roast  beef.  Of  course, 
the  appetites  of  students  are  **  freaky."  It 
is  an  extraordinarily  commonplace  remark  to 
make,  but  it  should  ever  be  emphasized, 
that  women  in  college  should  form  the 
habit  of  eating  nourishing  food,  and  of  eat- 
ing enough  of  it  for  doing  their  work. 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  63 

The  question  of  clothes  to  the  college 
woman  is  a  pretty  large  as  well  as  serious 
question.  The  item  of  expense  is  at  once 
more  and  less  important  than  certain  people 
think.  In  a  paper  read  at  the  Congress  of 
the  Association  for  the  Advancement  of 
Women,  held  in  Boston,  October,  1880, 
Professor  Maria  Mitchell,  of  Vassar  College, 
said:  **The  cost  of  a  girl's  education  is 
much  greater  than  that  of  a  boy's.  Why 
should  it  be  so  ?  Why  should  not  girls  club 
together,  board  themselves  in  a  wholesome 
and  inexpensive  way,  obtain  some  light 
employment  which  will  add  to  their  means, 
and  dress  for  almost  nothing  ?  I  touch  the 
subject  of  expense  in  dress  with  a  sinking 
heart,  for  I  know  that  no  party  is  with  me ; 
I  stand  almost  alone.  We  need  organized 
missionary  work  on  the  subject.  Young 
women  say,  *  It  is  our  duty  to  look  pretty;' 
and  one  would  suppose,  from  the  attention 
paid   to  it,  that  it  was  the  highest   duty."* 

*  "  Woman  and  the  ^Higher  Education,"  edited  by  Anna 
C.  Brackett,  pp.  73,  74. 


64  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

Of  course,  it  is  the  duty  of  women  to  look 
pretty,  but  a  woman  can  look  pretty,  in  col- 
lege or  out  of  college,  without  spending  a 
large  amount  of  money  on  dress.  But  the 
question  of  dress  is  possibly  more  serious 
in  other  respects  than  the  financial.  Many 
a  woman  enters  her  Freshman  year  ex- 
hausted with  the  labor  of  preparing  a  ward- 
robe for  herself.  Many  a  woman  enters 
each  of  her  succeeding  years  exhausted  with 
the  labor  of  dressmaking  done  in  the  pre- 
ceding summer  vacation. 

Among  the  fundamental  physical  con- 
ditions is  to  be  put  the  important  element 
of  sleep.  **Late  hours,"  many  college 
women  have  said  to  me,  are  the  cause  of 
not  a  few  break-downs.  It  seems  almost  a 
sarcasm  on  the  good  sense  of  the  women 
in  college  that  they  have  to  be  told  when 
to  go  to  bed.  But  is  it  not  a  customary 
rule  that  all  lights  are  to  be  put  out  at  ten 
o'clock  ?  I  suppose  the  rule  is  a  necessary 
one,  but  it  would  be  better  to  go  to  bed 
at    ten    without    the    rule.     Neither    study 


HER  ENVIRONMENT,  65 

nor  society  should  be  suffered  to  prevent 
the  spending  of  at  least  one-third  of  each 
twenty-four  hours  in  sleep.  A  graduate 
of  Smith  College,  now  living  at  Northamp- 
ton, says:  **  Smith  College  has  had  a  re- 
markable health  record,  and  I  think  one 
prime  cause  is  the  rigidity  of  the  rule 
requiring  all  lights  out  at  ten  p.  m.,  not 
even  breaking  over  for  college  receptions, 
concerts,  or  anything  else." 

The  time  spent  at  table,  in  exercise  and 
in  sleep  represents  the  larger  part  of  each 
day  for  each  college  woman,  with  one 
rather  serious  exception,  and  that  is  the 
time  spent  in  work.  How  many  hours  out 
of  the  twenty-four  can  a  woman  study  ? 
I  have  asked  this  question  of  many 
graduates,  and  from  the  hundreds  of  re- 
plies I  select  a  few,  retaining  the  forms  of 
the  answers.  In  these  hours  is  included 
the  time  spent  in  recitation: 

8  hours. 

8  hours  concentrated  work. 

8  hours. 


66  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

Less  than  at  Wellesley. 

15  hours  recitation  a  week. 
7  or  8  hours. 

7  hours. 
9-1 1  hours. 
9  hours. 

5  hours,  exclusive  of  recitations  and  lectures. 

8  hours. 

9  hours. 

Not  more  than  7  hours. 
9  hours. 

16  hours  recitation;  2  hours  study  each. 
8  hours  solid  work. 

8  hours. 
8  hours. 
Not  more  than  9  hours. 

6  to  8  hours. 
6  to  8  hours. 
8  hours. 

8  to  1 1  hours. 

8  hours. 

9  to  10  hours. 

Just  as  many  as  a  man. 

4  hours  outside  of  the  class-room. 

Same  as  for  man. 

6  hours. 

9  hours. 

8  to  9  hours. 

8  hours. 

6  to  7  hours,  including  class-room. 

71^  to  8  hours. 

71^  hours. 

8  hours  of  hard  study. 

9  hours. 

6  to  8  hours. 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  67 

It  is  to  be  remarked  that  these  figures  are 
given  by  women  who  themselves  are  gradu- 
ates, and  who  at  the  distance  of  one  year  or 
several  years  from  college  are  able  to  look  at 
its  times  and  conditions  with  a  just  perspec- 
tive. I  think  that  these  answers  may  be 
received  by  parents  and  teachers  with  the 
greatest  contentment. 

The  following  statement  is  made  by  a 
graduate  of  the  University  of  California,  a 
woman  who  at  the  time  of  writing  was  the 
editor  of  a  monthly  magazine.  The  proba- 
bility that  it  will  be  said  that  this  statement 
represents  an  exceptional  personality  does 
not  rid  it  of  value  as  evidence  respecting  the 
amount  of  work  which  certain  women  may 
do: 

*^I  always,  in  preparation  and  in  college, 
studied  about  all  the  time  there  was  left  from 
eating,  sleeping,  and  the  outside  work  I  al- 
ways had  on  hand  to  help,  or  to  entirely,  pay 
my  expenses  in  college.  This  was  part  of  the 
time  intellectual  work  itself — editing,  etc. 
I  was  pretty  strict  about  respecting  my  hours 


68  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

for  sleep — eight  hours;  but  I  really  wanted 
nine.  I  took  no  regular  exercise  at  any 
time — at  that  date  there  were  no  opportu- 
nities at  the  University  of  California  for 
girls;  there  are  now.  At  odd  times  I  took 
long  rambles.  I  kept  excellent  health,  ex- 
cept when  under  heavy  emotional  strain 
from  bereavements  that  had  nothing  to  do 
with  college  (and  even  then,  when  I  could 
do  it,  the  work  was  a  help,  nervously  and 
physically) ;  have  had  excellent  health — prac- 
tically perfect — in  the  twelve  and  a  half  years 
since  graduation,  though  the  last  ten  have 
been  of  almost  unremitting  overwork  and 
great  nervous  strains.  I  suppose  I  averaged 
ten  hours  a  day,  or  even  twelve,  of  intellec- 
tual work,  throughout  my  course.  I  can't 
remember  that  I  worried  about  it,  or  that 
much  of  it  was  drudgery,  either  from  sense 
of  duty  or  desire  of  ultimate  ends;  I  liked 
the  study  in  itself,  and  I  am  naturally  not 
impatient  of  the  incidental  drudgery  that 
comes  in  in  any  work,  however  interesting 
in  general;  that  trait  of  temperament  is,  per- 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  69 

haps,  as  much  as  my  health,  the  reason  I  can 
work  so  hard  without  ill  results.  But  I  am  not 
able,  as  I  get  to  middle  age  and  compare  my- 
self with  other  women,  altogether  to  escape 
the  impression  that  the  severe  and  unremit- 
ting work  may  be  itself  the  cause  of  my 
perfect  health. 

**I  certainly  would  not  restrict  any  girl  of 
good  health  and  normal  conditions  to  ten 
hours  of  intellectual  work ;  if  such  a  girl  was 
in  my  charge,  I  would  see  that  she  got  full 
allowance  of  sleep  and  exercise,  observed 
regular  habits  of  eating,  etc.,  and  let  her  be 
her  own  judge  of  the  rest.  Of  course,  no 
schedule  of  required  work  would  be  so 
planned  as  not  to  leave  time  for  some 
social  life,  and  for  general  reading;  but  my 
observation  is  that  much  social  life  makes 
work  harder ;  or  much  time  spent  in  merely 
resting." 

But  the  studies  by  no  means  represent 
the  entire  labor  calling  forth  the  intel- 
lectual energies  of  students.  Into  the  socie- 
ties,   literary,    social,    dramatic,     and     into 


70  THB  CbZLEGE   WOMAN, 

the  college  journals  go  no  small  part  of 
these  energies.  TJo  determine  the  desir- 
ability of  these  avocations  requires  wise 
discrimination.  These  pursuits  do  develop 
administrative  and  executive  talents.  To- 
ward the  development  of  these  talents  the 
college  itself  can  do  little  directly.  It  is 
very  important  for  the  interests  of  society 
and  of  the  Church  that  these  talents  should 
be  trained.  For  woman  is  coming  to  be 
the  great  power  in  the  regeneration  and 
reorganization  of  society  and  of  the  Church. 
This  work  also  represents  a  form  of  ser- 
vice usually  enjoyed;  and  work  done  with 
joy,  even  if  exhausting,  has  a  certain  recre- 
ating quality.  And  yet  it  is  to  be  con- 
fessed that  the  testimony  is  strong  and 
clear  that  certain  women  are  injured 
through  giving  too  much  time  and  strength 
to  these  forms  of  outside  work.  As  one 
graduate  says:  *^ Women  in  college  think 
and  study  until  everything  else  becomes 
relatively  insignificant;  then  they  begin  to 
grow  nervous.     They  do  not  so  much  need 


HER  EN  VIROIfMBNT.  7 1 

a  Greek  literary  society,  which  they  may 
be  so  eager  to  form,  as  a  long  tramp. 
They  should  inspect  the  factories  and  shops 
of  their  neighborhood,  in  order  to  keep 
themselves  in  touch  with  ordinary  human 
life." 

The  question  of  intellectual  work  has 
close  relations  with  that  demon  whom  we 
call  Worry.  Nothing  more  completely  dif- 
ferentiates the  woman  in  college  from  the 
man  in  college  than  worry;  the  woman 
does  worry,  the  man  does  not  worry.  This 
form  of  anxiety  has,  at  least  in  part,  a 
good  origin.  It  arises,  in  part  at  least, 
from  conscientiousness.  Women  are  more 
faithful  to  their  college  duties  than  men. 
Women  are  also  less  content  to  do  their 
work  the  best  they  can  and  to  take  no 
thought  as  to  results.  Whatever  strong 
reasons  exist  against  a  rigid  marking  sys- 
tem in  colleges  for  men — and  they  do  exist 
— those  reasons  are  far  stronger  in  colleges 
for  women.  Therefore  many  colleges  do 
not  make  known  the  relative  rank  of  their 


72  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

students.  For  these  students  are  so  eager 
to  excel  that  every  temptation  to  anxiety 
should  be  removed.  Women  need  the  col- 
lege curb  more  than  the  college  spur.  Their 
own  conscience  is  a  spur  strong  enough,  and 
often  too  strong.  Whatever  tends  toward 
the  creation  of  a  morbid  conscientiousness 
should  be  severely  eliminated.  One  cause, 
it  may  be  said  in  passing,  which  tends  to 
promote  such  conscientiousness  is  the  feel- 
ing that  woman  is  still  an  intellectual  or 
educational  experiment.  For  the  sake  of 
her  sex,  she,  the  college  woman,  thinks 
herself  obliged  to  do  her  very  best.  She 
someway  interprets  womankind  as  prodding 
her  womanhood  to  scale  intellectual  sum- 
mits. Such  large  incitements  and  excite- 
ments are  altogether  too  exhausting.  It  is 
therefore  of  special  importance  that  the 
intellectual  conditions  in  colleges  for 
women  should  be  distinguished  by  even- 
ness, regularity,  large  -  mindedness,  and 
large-heartedness. 

The     social     conditions     of     the     college 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  73 

woman  have  certain  peculiar  features.  The 
relations  of  the  college  woman  to  what  is 
called  society  should  be  7til ;  they  are  usu- 
ally nil.  She  is  usually  away  from  home, 
and  it  is  her  home  that  is  the  common  cen- 
tre of  her  social  activities  and  festivities. 
The  fact  is,  too,  that  she  cannot  be  a  col- 
lege woman,  receiving  any  special  advan- 
tage from  the  college,  if  she  is  also  a 
woman  in  society.  The  society  girl,  I 
know,  is  coming  to  college,  and  is  to  come 
in  larger  numbers.  She  will,  of  course, 
receive  more  of  what  is  worthiest  in  these 
four  college  years  than  she  could  from  any 
other  source;  but  she  is  coming  not  so 
much  to  be  in  society  while  she  is  in  college, 
as  she  is  to  be  a  better  member  of  society 
when  she  has  gone  from  college. 

For  the  woman's  college  is,  like  the 
man's  college,  a  microcosm.  This  little 
and  complete  world  represents  the  best 
condition  for  most  women  to  live  in  be- 
tween the  ages  of  eighteen  and  twenty- 
two.     These    women    have    small    need    of 


74  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN, 

other  social  resources  than  are  created  in 
college.  For  the  littleness  and  complete- 
ness of  this  precious  college  world  tend  to 
j  promote  sufficiently  for  the  time  that  most 
Iprecious  thing,  personality.  And  yet  little- 
ness and  completeness,  it  must  be  said, 
tend  to  promote  certain  elements  that  are 
not  worthy.  They  may  give  rise  to  a  kind 
of  nervous  excitement.  As  a  college 
woman  has  said,  **  There  is  a  danger  of 
nervousness  where  women  are  alone  and 
together.  A  tendency  to  nervousness,  too, 
is  often  encouraged  by  teachers  who  might 
do  much  to  lessen  it."  It  may  be  further 
noted  that  many  college  friendships  are 
exceedingly  exhausting.  Women  give 
themselves  up  more  than  men  to  intimate 
relations.  College  officers  are  wise  in  cau- 
tioning students  against  too  warm  friend- 
ships, especially  against  forming  them  in 
the  first  year  of  college  life. 

It  has  been  said  that  life  in  college  for 
women  tends  toward  monotony  and  mel- 
ancholy.      The     remark    should     be    false. 


HER  ENVIRONMENT.  75 

The  life,  though  regular,  should  not  be 
monotonous.  It  should  have,  and  may 
have,  a  fitting  variety  of  work  and  of  play. 
It  should  not,  above  all,  have  any  touch  of 
melancholy.  For  it  is  the  life  of  young 
women  placed  under  the  best  conditions 
for  fitting  themselves  for  complete  living. 


76  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 


IV. 

HER  HEALTH. 

Concerning  the  health  of  their  students, 
ojSicers  of  colleges  for  women  are  constantly 
watchful.  It  is  also  the  point  about  which 
people  outside  the  college  are  constantly 
questioning.  In  the  year  1885,  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bureau  of  the  Statistics  of  Labor 
published  a  statement  on  the  *^  Health  Sta- 
tistics of  Female  College  Graduates."  It 
was  prepared  by  one  than  whom  no  one  is 
more  competent,  Carroll  D.  Wright.  The 
immediate  work  of  the  collection  of  the  sta- 
tistics, however,  was  intrusted  to  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  Association  of  Collegiate 
Alumnae.  The  conclusions  of  this  report 
have  been  quoted  in  the  first  chapter. 

Apparently  nothing  could  be  more  satis- 
factory than  these  conclusions,  reached  by  so 
competent  an  authority  as  Carroll  D.  Wright. 


HER  HEALTH.  J^J 

It  is,  however,  to  be  said  that  these  conclu- 
sions are  based  upon  statistics  gathered  from 
the  graduates  of  colleges  open  to  women. 
It  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  students  who 
did  not  graduate.  Every  college  officer 
knows  that  it  is  the  ill  health  of  the  women 
who  do  not  graduate  that  forms  a  special 
object  of  solicitude.  It  is  the  women  who 
break  down  in  college,  in  the  Freshman  year 
or  in  the  following  years,  who  represent  the 
ravages  which  the  college  may  work.  The 
President  of  Wellesley  College,  in  her  report 
for  1893,  says: 

^*  Although  no  serious  cases  of  illness  have 
occurred  during  the  year,  I  cannot  report 
that  freedom  from  sickness  and  casualties 
which  we  have  experienced  for  some  years 
past.  The  number  leaving  college  during 
the  year  bears  about  the  same  ratio  to  the 
entire  number  as  last  year.* 

It  is  the  women  who  leave  college  with 
health  seriously  or  slightly  impaired  who 
form  the  object  of  special  interest  and  inves- 

■^  Wellesley  College,  President's  Report,  1893,  page  il. 


78  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN, 

ligation.  It  is  to  be  said,  indeed,  that  the 
general  health  of  women  in  college  is  good, 
but  it  is  also  to  be  said  that  there  are  occa- 
sionally certain  alarming  instances,  or  epi- 
demics, even,  of  ill  health  which  demand 
careful  attention.  From  one  of  the  counties 
in  Maine  in  seventeen  years  (1872-89),  five 
girls  went  to  one  of  the  best  of  the  colleges 
for  women.  They  were  girls  out  of  what  are 
called  **good  families,"  in  which  the  better 
conditions  of  health  had  been  conserved. 
The  history  of  the  college  relation  of  these 
five  girls  is  as  follows:  Three  of  the  ^n^ 
remained  only  through  the  Freshman  year; 
one  retired  at  the  close  of  the  Freshman 
year  because,  largely,  of  an  injury  received 
in  falling  from  a  horse  previous  to  her  enter- 
ing college.  A  second  who  left  at  the  close 
of  this  year  retired  because  of  a  general 
breakdown,  from  which  years  were  required 
for  recovery.  The  third  went  from  her 
Freshman  year  to  her  bed,  where  she  staid 
for  months.  A  fourth  of  the  five  remained 
until  the  Christpias  vacation  of  the   Junior 


HER  HEALTH,  79 

year  and  then  went  to  her  home  and  was 
under  medical  treatment  for  the  next  four 
years.  The  fifth  was  able  to  graduate,  but 
with  that  common  pain  in  the  back  of  her 
head  and  in  the  back  itself  which  prevented 
her  taking  up  graduate  work,  which  she 
desired  to  do.  I  believe  that  this  record  is 
exceptional,  but  it  is  a  record  which  has 
come  under  my  own  observation,  and  each 
one  of  the  students  concerned  is  personally 
known  to  me.  One  is  inclined  to  say,  upon 
the  face  of  the  record,  that  something  ought 
to  have  been  done  to  stop  such  breakdowns, 
and  I  know  that  something  might  have  been 
done  to  stop  them  in  two  of  the  instances, 
and,  possibly,  also  in  two  others. 

As  the  president  of  a  college  for  women, 
I  am,  like  every  college  officer,  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  health  of  students.  In  the  de- 
sire to  possess  as  full  a  knowledge  as  possi- 
ble, I  recently  asked  the  fourteen  hundred 
members  of  the  Collegiate  Alumnae  Associa- 
tion the  question,  among  other  inquiries. 
What  are  the  causes  of  ill  health  among  col- 


8o  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

lege  women?  To  these  questions  I  received 
several  hundred  replies,  and  the  replies 
were,  on  the  whole,  more  full  respecting 
health  than  respecting  any  other  subject  of 
inquiry.  The  replies  came  from  women 
who,  at  the  present  time,  are  occupying 
positions  of  the  most  diverse  character,  some 
being  wives,  some  being  teachers,  some  being 
doctors.  Not  a  few  of  the  replies  received 
were  from  those  eminent  in  special  callings 
to  which  they  have  devoted  themselves. 

It  is  worth  while,  I  think,  to  make  many 
extracts  from  these  replies.  For  each  an- 
swer indicates  the  mental  attitude  of  the  one 
replying  toward  the  general  question;  and 
this  attitude  is  exceedingly  significant. 

^^The  ill  health  of  college  women  is  due, 
in  many  cases,  to  mistakes  made  before  they 
entered  college, — the  results,  many  times,  of 
a  hurried  preparation  that  has  crammed  in- 
formation into  the  girl's  head  without  regard 
to  her  mental  or  physical  well-being,  and  of 
unhygienic  habits  of  life  and  modes  of  dress- 
ing during  such  preparation." 


HER  HEALTH.  8 1 

**Poor  constitutions  to  begin  with;  poor 
training  before  entering  college;  too  little 
repose." 

**  Too  great  emotional  excitement  from  the 
formation  of  so  many  new  friendships.  To 
certain  nervous  temperaments  this  is  a  seri- 
ous drain  upon  the  vitality.  Often  this  is 
the  real  reason  for  breakdown  attributed  to 
overstudy." 

**  Irregular  or  insufficient  sleep  or  exer- 
cise, and,  where  women  are  entirely  under 
the  influence  of  their  own  sex,  a  certain 
nervous,  emotional  strain  and  exaltation  of 
nervous  excitability  which  keeps  them  at 
high  pressure  continually,  and  prevents  their 
being  contented  with  good  work,  in  an  over- 
conscientious  straining  after  the  impossible. 
I  have  observed  this  tendency  mainly  in  the 
colleges  for  women,  where  women  largely 
predominate  in  the  Faculty,  and  I  think  it  is 
less  marked  where  the  students  come  under 
the  influence  of  both  sexes." 

**  Ignorance,  carelessness,  worry  about 
work,  especially  that  which  attends  a  rigid 


82  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

marking  system,  where  examinations  are 
made  an  important  test.  Where  night-work 
is  allowed,  it  is  sure  to  be  pernicious  in 
effect,  and  a  rigid  ten  o'clock  rule  seems  to 
me  very  desirable." 

*  *  Lack  of  regularity  in  habits  of  sleep  and 
exercise;  trying  to  keep  up  lines  of  social 
and  religious  duties." 

**  Whatever  tends  to  interrupt  regularity 
of  life — late  hours,  insufficient  exercise,  and, 
above  all,  worry  over  the  results  of  examina- 
tion and  recitation." 

**Weak  constitutions  and  brokendown 
health  before  entering  college.  Disregard 
of  the  rules  for  bathing  and  for  outdoor 
exercise.  Too  active  an  interest  in  dramatic 
and  social  entertainments.  This  last  is  usu- 
ally extra  to  the  regular  college  work,  and  is 
especially  trying  upon  the  nerves  of  the 
executive  committee.  A  moderate  amount 
of  it  is  excellent  drill  for  the  executive 
ability  of  the  girls." 

^^Overstudy  is  the  least  of  the  causes. 
Overworry,  the  general  spirit  of  unrest,  an 


HER  HEALTH.  83 

overindulgence  in  social  pleasures,  combined 
with  a  lack  of  exercise  and  poor  food." 

**  Lack  of  method  in  work;  neglect  of 
proper  attention  to  the  functional  action  of 
the  body;  emotional  distractions,  combined 
with  social  dissipations  and  late  hours;  the 
fact  that  women  are  looked  upon  as  an  ex- 
periment in  intellectual  work." 

**  Lack  of  exercise;  insufficient  sleep, 
caused,  perhaps,  by  Americanitis.  Outside 
excitement;  too  much  required  of  a  bright, 
attractive  school-girl;  church  and  society 
expect  their  contribution  upon  all  manner 
of  occasions.  They  are  not  allowed  to  grow 
up  mentally  strong,  physically  well-devel- 
oped women.     They  do  not  relax  enough." 

'^Overwork  in  the  beginning  of  their 
college  course.  The  student  is  crowded 
with  work  before  she  has  time  to  adjust 
herself  to  the  new  conditions." 

*^  Nervous  strain.  Steady  work  and  no 
worry  will  not  break  down  an  ordinary 
girl." 

^'Lack  of  outdoor  exercise;    lack  of  con- 


84  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

centration  in  study.  The  average  college 
girl  thinks  and  worries  over  lessons  when 
they  should  be  dismissed,  and  wastes  time 
when  she  studies." 

**The  frailty  of  the  American  woman  is, 
to  my  mind,  unexplained;  but  a  habit, 
early  formed,  of  some  systematic  outdoor 
exercise  every  day,  the  avoidance  of  work 
in  close  proximity  to  meal  time,  sensible 
dress,  plenty  of  sleep,  will  do  a  great 
deal  toward  keeping  the  college  girl 
well." 

** Unnatural  conditions  of  dormitory  life; 
over-conscientiousness;  worry  and  self-re- 
proach." 

**A  morbid  conscientiousness,  if  so 
good  a  word  may  be  used  for  that  mental 
state  which  makes  a  woman  worry  contin- 
ually." 

**Lack  of  outdoor  exercise;  worry; 
wrong  kind  of  food.  Most  college  women 
I  have  known  were  well  while  in  college 
but  broke  down  from  one  to  three  years 
after  leaving." 


HER  HEALTH.  85 

**  Ill-spent  vacations;  too  much  letter- 
writing-;  morbid  conscience.  To  prevent 
nervousness  over  examinations,  they  should 
be  held  frequently  and  should  have  as 
much  influence  as  daily  work  in  determin- 
ing scholarship.  A  course  of  four  hours  a 
week  for  half  a  year  is  far  better  than  two 
hours  a  week  for  one  year." 

**The  causes  of  ill  health  in  college  are 
exactly  the  same  as  out  of  it,  but  less  fre- 
quent by  reason  of  the  knowledge  gained 
and  the  systematic  life  necessary  to  success 
in  the  work.  Women  are  more  restricted 
than  men ;  they  cannot  indulge  in  the  recre- 
ations which  entice   men   from   overstudy." 

**The  cause  is  usually  attempting  too 
many  things," 

*'Too  little  outdoor  exercise,  too  little 
sleep,  improper  food  and  irregularity  at 
meals." 

**Loss  of  sleep;  too  little  outdoor  exer- 
cise; too  many  boxes  or  *  spreads,'  and 
worry  over  examinations." 

**  College     women     are     healthier     than 


86  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

Other  women.  The  regular  hours  for  eat- 
ing and  sleeping,  and  exercise  and  mental 
stimulus,  are  beneficial." 

**I11  health  before  becoming  college 
women;  most  cases  can  be  traced  to  dis- 
regard of  ordinary  rules  of  health.  Less 
ill  health  among  college  women  than  any 
other  class." 

**The  effort  to  achieve  social  success  in 
society,  in  class  and  in  entertainments, 
combined  with  the  effort  for  scholarship. 
The  exhausting,  engrossing,  and  unhealth- 
ful  character  of  some  college  friendships. 
The  personal  work  of  many  college  girls — 
repairing,  and  often  making  their  own 
dresses." 

**Want  of  appreciation  on  the  part  of 
the  professor  of  physiological  weaknesses 
of  women." 

*  *  No  more  ill  health  among  college 
women  than  other  women.  Health  exam- 
ination on  entering  should  be  as  rigid,  or 
more  rigid,  than  examinations  in  Latin, 
mathematics,  or   anything  else.     When  the 


HER  HEALTH,  87 

colleges  for  women  can  afford  to  take  this 
stand,  and  refuse  admission  to  every  girl 
who  cannot  show  a  long  standing  record  of 
good  health,  just  as  an  applicant  for  admis- 
sion to  the  army  would  be  rejected,  then 
this  talk  about  ill  health  will  cease;  and 
besides,  the  influence  of  such  a  body  of 
healthy,  educated  women  would  be  far- 
reaching  in  making  health  fashionable 
among  their  non-college  sisters." 

**  In  the  exceptional  cases,  where  college 
women  break  down,  the  cause  is  false  ambi- 
tion, over-conscientiousness,  or  the  attempt 
to  reconcile  study  and  gayety." 

*^  Inheritance,  ignorance  of  the  laws  of 
sanitation,  inadequate  provisions  for  good 
air,  proper  food  and  exercise,  and  a  feeling 
that  the  body  can  take  care  of  itself,  and 
that  if  it  cannot  it  ought  to." 

^'  Less  worry  over  impossibly  long  lessons, 
more  comfortable  and  hygienic  dress  would 
help  matters." 

**Same  as  among  women  at  large — igno- 
rance   of    the    laws   of    hygiene,    too    little 


88  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

physical  exercise,  too  great  anxiety  about 
class   standing." 

**Have  seen  very  little  ill  health  among 
college  women.  Causes  of  illness  the  same 
as  among  other  people.  The  college  woman 
is  more  interested  in  the  laws  of  health 
than  other  women;  she  has  no  time  to 
be  ill." 

** Worry  over  class  work;  attempting  too 
much  and  then  worrying  over  not  accom- 
plishing it.  In  some  cases  insufficient  exer- 
cise; in  others,  late  hours." 

**  Almost  without  exception,  the  girls  who 
suffer  from  ill  health,  had  impaired  their 
health  before  entering  college,  or  were 
imprudent,  and  dissipated  theii:  strength  in 
outside  gayety  and  vacation  amusements 
during  the  course." 

*  *  Except  in  the  cases  of  overwork,  caused 
by  a  false  estimate  of  the  value  of  standing 
in  class,  I  cannot  believe  that  there  is  any 
case  of  ill  health  among  college  women  as 
distinguished  from  other  women;  but,  on 
the  contrary,  every  reason  for  steady   phys- 


HER  HEALTH,  89 

ical  growth  in  strength,  as  was  my  experi- 
ence." 

**  Exactly  the  same  causes  as  produce  ill 
health  among  all  women.  I  have  never 
known  any  college  woman's  health  to  be  in 
the  least  impaired  by  any  work  in  accord- 
ance with  the  rules  prescribed." 

^^Lack  of  knowledge  of  the  most  simple 
hygienic  methods,  and  lack  of  physical 
training  as  an  incentive  to  outdoor  amuse- 
ments." 

^'Entrance  on  a  college  course  without 
adequate  capital  of  health  and  strength.  A 
thorough  physical  entrance  examination  is 
demanded  by  the  interests  of  both  college 
and  student.  Young  women  enter  when 
broken  down  by  the  pressure  of  their  pre- 
liminary training,  and  the  college  is  blamed 
for  the  inevitable  result.  The  habit  of 
worry  over  college  work;  the  attempt  to 
carry  too  many  responsibilities;  personal 
neglect  of  the  laws  of  physical  well-being; 
insufficient  clothing;  innutritious  food  es- 
pecially." 


90  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

**  Irregularity  in  eating,  sleeping  and 
exercise.  Imprudence  in  dress;  excess  of 
the  pleasures  of  fashionable  society — not 
study,   one  in  a  hundred  instances.'* 

**  Comparatively  little  ill  health  among 
college  women.  What  little  there  is  is  due 
to  hereditary,  constitutional  tendencies,  and 
other  causes  which  would  have  worked  the 
same  result  anywhere." 

**If  you  can  answer  the  question  for  men, 
you  have  answered  it  for  women.  Women 
need  more  incentive  to  exercise." 

*^  My  experience  is  that  college  girls  are 
healthier  than  other  girls.  I  feel  more 
strongly,  however,  that  college  homes 
should  be  built  on  the  cottage  plan,  and  by 
no  means  huge  hotels  without  carpets.  In 
other  words,  an  opportunity  to  be  perfectly 
quiet  I  believe  essential  to  good  health. 
Wholesome  and  appetizing  food  is  also  in- 
dispensable." 

**  Too  brief  time  in  fitting  school,  involv- 
ing too  hard  study;  deficient  preparation,  in- 
volving too  hard  study  in  college ;   too  many 


HER  HEALTH.  9 1 

studies  and  too  many  lessons  in  college ;  the 
strain  of  something  for  every  minute,  with 
no  *  let  up ; '  too  much  social  dissipation  be- 
fore going  to  college  and  during  vacations." 
<<  Trying  to  do  men's  work  with  the 
handicap  of  sex.  Whatever  be  the  ultimate 
causes,  whether  a  different  civilization  would 
present  a  different  state  of  things  or  not,  it 
is  true  to-day  that  woman  in  this  country  is 
not  the  equal  of  man  physically,  nor  in  the 
power  of  endurance  of  sustained  mental 
work.  It  is  the  unanimous  verdict  of  my 
colleagues  that,  while  in  many  cases,  a 
woman,  in  attacking  a  given  subject,  will  get 
the  same  returns  for  the  same  amount  of 
effort  as  a  man,  she  has  not  the  same  total 
of  effort  to  use.  My  opinion  is  that  a  course 
covering  the  amount  of  work  done  in  four 
years  at  the  men's  colleges  ought  to  be  ex- 
tended to  five  to  be  done  by  the  woman  as 
easily  and  as  well.  It  must  be  recognized 
that  a  woman  cannot  always  be  ready,  on 
every  day  of  every  month,  to  do  a  full  day's 
work,  as  a  man  can." 


92  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

I     **  Carelessness    among     girls    thrown    on 

their  own   resources.       Not   the  amount   of 

ywork,  but  the  lack  of  attention  given  to  self. 

Attendance  at  lectures  should  be  optional." 

**  Under  ordinarily  good  conditions,  the 
college  woman  should  not  break  down. 
Several  small  dormitories  are  better  than 
one  large  one,  and  every  student  should 
have  at  least  a  room  where  she  can  be  en- 
tirely alone." 

**  Worry,  leading  to  overstudy,  poor  sleep, 
and  hurried  eating,  is  the  chief,  and  almost 
the  only  cause  of  ill  health  chargeable  to  th 
college  woman's  work.  Even  back  of  tha 
is  a  temperament  at  fault.  For  that  the 
college  cannot  be  responsible,  but  it  can 
furnish  the  wise  friend,  who  can  assure  the 
girl  that  she  can  overcome  the  tendency, 
possibly  rid  herself  of  it,  and  so  add  greatly 
to  her  physical  and  mental  powers." 

**  Ignorance  of  the  laws  of  health;  in  rare 
cases,  over-application." 

**Very  few  women  break  down  from 
overstudy;    some    do   from    over-anxiety   in 


HER  HEALTH.  93 

regard  to  their  studies  and  over-sensitive- 
ness in  regard  to  their  standings.  The 
marking  system  is  responsible  for  some  of 
this.  If  the  spirit  of'  emulation,  fostered 
by  a  system  of  ranking,  could  be  banished 
from  college,  women  would  do  better 
work  and  truer,  with  less  wear  and  tear  of 
body  and  mind." 

**The  friction  of  life  at  close  quarters 
with  large  numbers  of  students  should  be 
avoided  as  much  as  possible,  even  where 
the  dormitory  system  prevails.  There  is 
far  less  illness  among  college  women  than 
others.  Where  ill  health  does  exist,  it  is 
due  to  causes  that  predispose  illness  in 
every  woman." 

<<  Trying  to  combine  society  and  college 
life.  Sixteen  hours  a  week  is  a  good  max- 
imum. Thirteen  or  fourteen  is  better. 
The  nervous  strain  of  the  constant  effort 
to  accomplish  impossibilities  is  great." 

**  Ignorance  of  one's  self.  This  includes 
ignorance  of  one's  limit  of  power  and  of 
the  means  of  restoring  the  lost  equilibrium. 


94 


THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 


Too  little  open  air  exercise.  Too  little 
diversion;  worry,  including  home  anxieties. 
Frequently  the  foundation  of  the  trouble 
is  laid  in  the  short  vacation  when  the 
young  woman  feels  obliged  to  indulge  in 
excessive  pleasures." 

*■  *■  College  girls  ought  to  be  the  healthi- 
est, happiest  girls  in  the  world.  Home 
worry,  too  great  care  for  marks  and  high 
rank,  wearing  of  heavy  wraps  and  hats  in 
overheated  recitation  rooms,  and  too  many 
outside  attractions  and  too  much  talk  about 
lessons,  are  some  of  the  causes  of  ill  health." 

**The  chief  cause  of  ill  health  among 
college  women  lies  in  hereditary  influences 
which  would  be  followed  by  the  same  re- 
sults outside  of  college  walls." 

**  My  college  course  acted  as  a  tonic 
upon  me.  Too  much  social  dissipation, 
heavy  and  close-fitting  clothing,  lack  of 
proper  exercise,  worry — are  some  of  the 
causes  of  ill  health." 

**The  health  of  the  college  woman  is 
exceptionally   good.      In   cases   where   it   is 


HER  HEALTH.  95 

not,  the  cause  is  that  they  talk  and  read 
too  much  about  diseases." 

**  Failure  to  recognize  that  a  sound  mind 
works  best  in  a  sound  body.  Attempting 
social  and  home  duties  in  connection  with 
college  work,  and  carrying  too  many  studies 
at  once." 

^*  Beginning  with  classes  beyond  the  stu- 
dent's attainments,  so  that  she  is  burdened 
with  conditions." 

**  I  have  not  known  much  ill  health 
among  college  women.  What  there  is  is 
chiefly  in  the  lower  classes,  and  due  to 
ignorance  or  defiance  of  the  laws  of  health, 
and  the  impressions  current  among  parents 
and  their  delicate  but  ambitious  daughters, 
that  the  college  is  also  a  sanitarium.  The 
attempt  to  do  too  much  outside  work  and 
the  constant  over-pressure  is  rCvSponsible 
for  nine-tenths  of  the  nervous  prostration 
among  upper-class  women." 

**Lack  of  proper  physical  exercise  and 
improper  clothing.  Waste  of  time  on  non- 
essentials; nervous  strain  and  worry." 


96  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

^'  The  dress  of  college  women,  which  is 
ill  adapted  to  their  needs  as  students;  lack 
of  systematic  physical  exercise;  ignorance 
on  the  part  of  the  professor  of  the  woman 
nature;  the  constant  effort  to  excuse 
to  the  world  their  position  as  college 
women." 

'*  College  girls'  health  is  generally  much 
better  than  others.  Breakdowns  do  occur, 
but  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the  college  is 
not  to  blame.  Girls  living  at  home  too 
often  try  to  keep  up  with  the  demands  of 
home  and  society  at  the  same  time  with 
those  of  the  college,  and  the  result  cannot 
but  be  disaster,  but  the  college  surely  is 
not  to  blame." 

*^  Ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  cases 
is  due  to  dissipation — too  many  societies 
and  too  many  social  events." 

*' As  a  class,  I  believe  college  women  are 
the  healthiest  women  I  know.  Where 
there  is  ill  health,  it  is  due  to  the  effort  to 
be  society  girls  and  college  women  at  the 
same  time;  also  the  lack  of  an  understand- 


HER  HEALTH.  97 

ing  of  the  relation  of   physical  training  to 
mental  growth." 

**Too  little  exercise.  Too  little  interest 
in  outside  affairs,  which  makes  it  possible 
for  the  girl  to  give  to  study,  or  what  she 
thinks  is  study,  hours  much  better  spent 
in  healthful  recreation.  Lack  of  sympathy 
from  teachers,  real  or  apparent,  which  in- 
creases nervousness  and  worry;  sometimes 
poor  preparation,  which  places  on  the 
girl's  shoulders  a  burden  which  she  never 
ought  to  carry;  in  brief,  everything  which 
increases  nervous  strain  and  prevents 
throwing  off  all  thought  of  work  from 
three  to  five  hours  every  day.  It  is  the 
constant  thought  of  the  work,  not  the 
work  itself.  It  is  almost  impossible  for  a 
girl  to  be  so  self-possessed,  so  self -governed 
that  she  can  entirely  separate  her  hours  of 
college  work  from  her  hours  of  rest  if  she 
sleeps  in  the  same  building  where  she  re- 
cites, shares  her  room  with  others,  and 
takes  her  meals  in  the  large  dining-room 
of  the  institution." 


98  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

**As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  health  of  col- 
lege women,  and  of  educated  women  in 
general,  is  better  than  that  of  women  in 
general  outside  of  colleges.  The  cause  of 
ill  health  among  college  women,  as  among 
all  other  women,  is  need  of  pure  air,  need 
of  exercise  in  the  open  air,  also  innutritions 
food  and  improper  dress." 

**The  chief  cause  of  ill  health  is  lack  of 
regularity  in  exercise.  Regularity  in  college 
life  insures  better  health  than  most  girls 
enjoy." 

*  *  Some  women  are  naturally  delicate ; 
others  are  imprudent  in  the  choice  and 
amount  of  their  work,  recreation  and  pleas- 
ures; still  others  are  imprudent  in  their 
habits  of  study,  and  3.  few  overwork." 

**  Disregard  of  the  laws  of  physical  well- 
being,  in  dress,  and  in  superadding  the  bur- 
dens of  social  life  to  college  life;  neglect  of 
physical  culture.  The  weak  must  become 
strong,  or,  in  safety,  accept  the  limitations 
of  their  weakness." 

**  Health   of   college   girls   is   better   than 


HER  HEALTH,  99 

that  of  other  girls.  Could  be  improved 
by  avoiding-  study  before  breakfast,  late 
work  with  stimulants,  trying  to  do  too 
much  work,  want  of  nourishing  food  and 
rest,  exercise  in  fresh  air,  and  healthful 
amusements." 

* '  To  functional  disturbances  of  sex ;  these 
are  the  results  of  generations  of  mothers 
ignorant  of  hygienic  principles  of  food  and 
dress  and  of  reproduction ;  and  to  ignorance 
and  consequent  imprudence  in  the  care  of 
health  during  girlhood.  I  doubt  if  college 
women  are  more  subject  to  these  difficulties 
than  others,  but  the  more  intellectual  women 
become  the  more  conscious  they  are  of 
physical  disabilities,  which  are  a.  serious 
hindrance  to  effective  mental  labor." 

These  replies,  which  I  have  thought  it 
worth  while  to  reproduce  to  this  great 
length  and  variety,  may  be  classified  upon 
any  one  of  several  principles.  One  princi- 
ple of  classification  is  the  temporal:  the 
causes  of  ill  health  lying  before  college  and 
the  causes  of  ill  health  found  in  the  college 


lOO  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

itself.  One  principle  of  classification  is  the 
personal  or  the  impersonal :  the  causes  of  ill 
health  lying  in  the  student  herself,  and  those 
lying  in  her  environment ;  and  each  of  these 
classes  of  causes  is  in  turn  capable  of  a  great 
diversity  of  division. 

Of  the  pre-college  causes,  one  may  have 
special  mention,  /.  e,  the  haste  of  prepara- 
tion for  college.  Haste  tempts  to  overwork, 
and  overwork  tempts  to  promote  evil  condi- 
tions of  labor.  Overwork  and  evil  conditions 
cause  exhaustion ;  and  that  exhaustion  which 
belongs  to  intellectual  labor  is  nervous  ex- 
haustion; and  when  one  is  the  subject 
of  what  is  known  in  common  life  as  ner- 
vous exhaustion,  the  result  is  lamentable 
enough. 

As  to  the  causes  lying  in  the  college  itself, 
it  is  to  be  noted  at  once  that  few  of  these 
writers  allude  to  overstudy  as  a  cause  of  ill 
health.  As  a  rule,  it  is  true  that  college 
women  do  not  study  too  much.  Few  of 
them  work  more  than  five  hours  in  twenty- 
four,   outside    of    the    recitation    room,  and 


HER  HEALTH.  lOI 

this  amount  of  work  should  not  and  can 
not  by  any  means  represent  exhaustion  and 
consequent  illness  to  one  in  health. 

It  is  to  be  further  noted  that  the  condition 
which  frequently  accompanies  study  is  re- 
ferred to  by  many — worry.  By  whatever 
name  this  condition  is  known,  whether  over- 
conscientiousness,  or  anxiety,  or  fretting,  or 
nervousness,  it  is  the  same  thing  in  kind 
and  substance.  The  truth  is,  that  women 
do  not  usually  carry  their  work  so  easily  as 
do  men.  The  ordinary  woman,  on  the  whole, 
in  college,  does  her  work  more  faithfully 
than  the  ordinary  man.  The  ordinary  woman 
and  the  ordinary  man  in  college  do  their 
work  reasonably  well;  of  course  they  do. 
They  each  put  a  certain  degree  of  consci- 
entiousness into  it.  Possibly  some  one  would 
say  that  the  woman  puts  into  it  more  con- 
scientiousness than  a  man.  Whether  this  be 
true  or  not,  it  is  true,  in  my  thought,  that 
the  woman  puts  more  conscious  conscien- 
tiousness into  her  work  than  does  a  man. 
Of  itself,  conscientiousness  may  not  exhaust. 


I02  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

but  as  soon  as  conscientiousness  becomes 
conscious,  it  does  exhaust. 

The  larger  number  of  the  other  causes 
may  be  classified  under  the  head  of  improper 
food  and  room,  unfit  clothing,  and  lack  of 
sleep  or  of  exercise.  One  need  not  linger 
upon  the  evil  elements  which,  in  each  one  of 
these  agencies  or  conditions,  tend  to  produce 
ill  health.  But  I  venture  to  say,  that  the 
most  important  of  these  five  causes  is  found 
in  the  lack  of  proper  exercise.  If  the  ordi- 
nary woman  in  the  American  college  would 
take  exercise  sufficient  in  amount  and  proper 
in  quality,  and  fitting  in  time  and  con- 
dition, we  should  hear  little  of  ill  health. 
It  is,  indeed,  true  that  this  remark,  made 
respecting  college  women,  might  possibly 
be  made  respecting  all  American  women. 
If  the  American  woman  would  exercise  as 
she  ought  to  exercise,  her  health  would  be  a 
good  deal  nearer  what  she  wishes  it  to  be. 

The  difference  in  the  effect  of  physical 
labor  and  intellectual  is  singular  and  sig- 
nificant.      If   a  blacksmith  has  worked   ten 


HER  HEALTH.  IO3 

hours,  this  hard  work  itself  has  a  certain 
recreative  promise.  When  he  has  slept  eight 
hours,  he  can  re-begin  his  work  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning  with  a  strength  made  all  the  ' 
stronger  by  his  previous  day's  toil.  The 
work  itself  is  recreative.  But  if  a  student 
has  worked  out  problems  in  analytics  for  ten 
hours,  and  sleeps  eight  hours  the  night  fol- 
lowing his  day's  toil,  he  does  not  begin  his 
next  day's  work  with  a  strength  made  all  the 
stronger  by  reason  of  the  preceding  day's 
labor.  He  is  exhausted.  The  labor  itself  is 
not  recreative.  But  if  the  student  has  put 
in,  between  the  close  of  his  ten  hours'  work 
on  analytics  and  the  beginning  of  his  night 
of  sleep,  two  hours  of  good  exercise,  he  does 
begin  the  next  day's  work  even  stronger  and 
fresher  than  he  was  at  the  beginning  of  his 
first  day's  service.  Physical  exercise  is  an 
absolute    necessity  for  the  student. 

Physical  exercise  tends  also  to  remove 
certain  of  the  special  causes  of  ill  health.  It 
promotes  a  hearty  appetite  for  nutritious 
food;  it  is  an  aid  to  sound  sleeping.     It  ren- 


I04  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

ders  the  close  relationship  of  college  life  less 
exhausting.     In  a  word,  it  is  healthful. 

The  difficulties  in  the  way  of  college 
women  taking  the  exercise  they  ought  to 
take  are  many.  If  the  exercise  is  pre- 
scribed, that  mulish  element  in  humanity 
leading  it  not  to  wish  to  do  what  it  is  re- 
quired to  do,  emerges  with  force.  If  all 
college  women  were  required  to  spend  two 
hours  a  day  in  walking  or  playing  tennis, 
college  women  would  rise  up  in  rebellion. 
If  college  women  were  required  to  exer- 
cise a  certain  time — at  least  three  hours  a 
week  in  gymnasium — obedience  to  this 
prescription  would  become  irksome.  All 
exercise,  however  taken,  that  is  of  pre- 
scription, does  not  give  that  joy  which  it 
ought  to  give,  and  joyless  exercise  is  not 
by  any  means  so  recreative  as  joyful  exer- 
cise. But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  colleges 
make  no  requirements  respecting  exercise, 
students  will  not  take  it.  Students,  like 
other  classes  in  the  community,  are  totally 
depraved    in    their    indolence!      Therefore, 


HER  HEALTH.  I05 

under  the  present  conditions,  if  a  college 
does  not  require  physical  exercise  of  its 
students,  they  will  take  little;  if  it  does 
require  physical  exercise,  the  exercise  has 
not  that  full  recreative  effect  which  it  ought 
to  produce. 

Most  of  our  colleges  for  women  are  pro- 
vided with  gymnasiums,  and  require  the 
students  to  take  exercise.  The  requirement 
is,  of  course,  wise.  Colleges  differ  in  the 
amount  of  this  requirement.  It  is  rather 
the  rule  that  the  requirement  is  limited  to 
the  Sophomore  and  Freshman  classes,  though 
not  always,  and  that  each  member  of  these 
classes  shall  be  present  three  times  a  week 
in  the  gymnasium ;  but,  as  a  fact,  too  many 
students  dislike  this  exercise,  and  will, 
through  the  hook  of  a  doctor's  certificate, 
or  the  crook  of  some  personal  persuasive 
statement,  rid  themselves  of  this  necessity. 

Therefore,  one  of  the  most  important 
problems  that  the  American  college  for 
women  has  before  itself  is  the  persuasion 
of   college   students   to  exercise  with   regu- 


I06  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

larity  and  with  joy.  It  would  seem  a  priori 
that  it  should  not  be  difficult  to  persuade 
young  women  thus  to  exercise.  Suscepti- 
bility to  temptations  to  appetite  represents 
the  comprehensive  weakness  of  men,  but 
the  susceptibility  to  temptation  arising 
from  the  love  of  admiration  represents 
the  comprehensive  weakness  of  women. 
Women  (like  men)  are  fond  of  being  ad- 
mired for  beauty  of  form  and  of  face  and 
of  bearing.  No  work  is  so  promotive  of 
beauty  of  form  and  of  excellence  in  carriage 
as  work  properly  done  in  a  good  gymna- 
sium. Therefore  it  would  seem  that  women 
should  not  find  it  difficult,  even  out  of 
the  respect  which  they  might  properly  pay 
to  admiration,  to  take  gymnastic  work  joy- 
fully. But  apparently,  in  this  respect, 
women  are  not  so  open  to  temptation  as 
they  ought  to  be. 

Formerly,  it  was  not  in  so  good  form 
for  American  women  to  have  robust  health 
as  it  now  is.  It  is  now  in  good  form  for 
a    woman    to    be    well!       Among    English 


HER  HEALTH,  107 

women  of  the  more  favored  classes,  good 
health  is  far  more  common  than  among 
women  of  the  better  class  in  this  country. 
English  women  spend  more  time  out  of 
doors,  and  exercise  more  constantly  and  at 
greater  length.  The  students  at  the 
women's  colleges  associated  with  Oxford 
and  Cambridge  give  fewer  hours  each  day 
to  their  books  than  do  American  students, 
but  they  give  more  hours  to  walking  and 
to  tennis.  It  is  good  form  to  play  tennis 
in  the  afternoon  at  Girton  and  Newnham, 
as  it  is  in  bad  form  to  be  reading  at  this 
time.  It  were  well  if  American  students 
were  the  happy  subjects  of  a  similar  con- 
dition. 

The  question,  therefore,  of  method  or 
of  means  becomes  important  to  the  college. 
What  can  the  college  do  to  produce  a  sen- 
timent in  favor  of  the  taking  of  exercise  ? 
This  movement  can  be  effected  only  as 
are  all  social  movements.  Discussion,  coun- 
sel, personal  talks  on  the  part  of  college 
officers,  and  official   talks  as  well,  may  do 


I08  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

much  toward  accomplishing  this  worthiest 
result.  Such  debates  and  advice  will  in 
time  prove  effective. 

For  such  a  method  has  as  co-ordinate 
coefficients  the  doctor,  and  the  revived 
spirit  of  athletics  in  American  life  and  in 
American  education.  The  doctor  has  come, 
like  the  lawyer,  to  be  more  and  more  the 
one  whose  counsel  is  sought  in  advance  of 
the  peril,  and  not  when  the  peril  has 
appeared.  The  wise  physician,  therefore, 
will  advise  such  exercise  as  the  student 
knows  herself  she  ought  to  take,  and  such 
also  as  the  college  knows  she  ought  to  take. 
The  spirit,  too,  of  athleticism  will  soon 
permeate  the  colleges  for  women  with  an 
increased  force  comparable  with  the  in- 
creased vigor  with  which  it  is  coming  to 
possess  colleges  for  men.  Of  course,  col- 
lege women  will  not  usually  play  football, 
even  though  it  is  a  game  of  brains  quite 
as  much  as  a  game  of  feet.  Of  course,  they 
will  not,  as  a  rule,  play  baseball.  But 
they  can  find  no  better  sport  than  rowing. 


HER  HEALTH.  IO9 

The  tennis  court,  too,  represents  a  proper 
and  fine  condition.  As  common  as  tennis 
is  in  college,  it  ought  to  be  many-fold 
more  common.  We  shall  also  in  the 
course  of  time  introduce  into  all  gymnastic 
work  some  picturesque  elements  which  will 
rid  it  of  what  to  many  is  its  present  stu- 
pidity. The  simple  enthusiasm  for  phys- 
ical culture,  resulting  from  increasing  gen- 
eral interest  in  athletic  sports,  will  itself, 
too,  tend  to  elevate  routine  methods  into 
picturesqueness. 

The  American  college  is  ordained  to  pro- 
mote wisdom;  but  wisdom  is  subordinate 
to  health.  Yet  the  American  woman  who 
is  sound  in  body  is  less  common  than  the 
one  who  is  disciplined  and  cultured  in  mind. 
It  is  not  enough  for  statistics  to  prove 
that  the  health  of  college  women  is  simply 
as  good  as  the  health  of  other  women. 
For  the  American  college  woman  owes 
a  great  debt  to  her  associates  who  are  not 
college-bred.  These  college  women  should 
set    an   example    for   all    women   in    health 


no  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

and  healthful  living.  They  should  repre- 
sent worthy  obedience  to  hygienic  lav/,  and 
they  should  also  embody  in  themselves 
the  worthiest  results  of  this  obedience. 
Where  can  humanity  look  for  the  wisest 
methods,  or  for  the  finest  achievement,  or 
for  the  most  facile  means  of  physical  or 
other  culture,  if  not  to  the  women  who  are 
trained  in  the  American  college  ? 


ME  THODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TION.      1 1  I 


METHODS  IN  HER  EDUCATION. 

Three  epithets  describe  the  fundamental 
methods  maintained  in  different  colleges  for 
women:  Co-educational,  separate,  co-ordi- 
nate. Of  the  more  than  four  hundred  insti- 
tutions recognized  in  the  Report  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Education  as  Colleges,  at  least 
233  are  open  to  both  women  and  men;  at 
least  175  are  open  to  men  only;  15*  are  open 
to  women  only,  and  at  least  5  may  be  said  to 
represent  the  co-ordinate  method. 

Co-education  possesses  certain  advantages; 

*  These  figures  are  taken  from  the  last  report  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Education,  1890-91 ;  but  their  value  is  slight 
because  of  the  looseness  of  the  term  college — a  looseness 
which  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  the  Commissioner,  probably  la- 
ments more  deeply  than  any  one.  Colleges  for  women  are 
divided  into  two  classes,  A  and  B.  In  class  B  are  152  insti- 
tutions, only  a  few  of  which  are  colleges  in  reality,  and  some 
of  which  are  not  colleges  even  in  name. 


I  I  2  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

it  is  subject  to  certain  disadvantages.  Sepa- 
rate education  is  likewise  favored  and  like- 
wise limited.  Co-ordinate  education  has 
certain  of  the  advantages  of  co-education 
and   of  separate  education. 

Co-education  has  the  advantage  of  econo- 
my. Numbers  increase  pecuniary  cheap- 
ness. Many  of  the  colleges  of  the  West  were 
established  for  both  men  and  women  be- 
cause the  church  or  the  people  could  not 
afford  two  colleges  in  a  single  common- 
wealth. 

Co-education  tends,  I  think,  to  make  the 
students  who  are  men  more  courteous  and 
gracious;  it  trains  in  certain  respects  the 
gentlemen.  Co-education  also,  I  think, 
tends  to  promote  the  pure  moral  type.  As- 
sociation with  young  women  of  noble  char- 
acter makes  resistance  to  certain  tempta- 
tions by  young  men  less  difficult.  Eor 
young  women,  too,  co-education  has  ad- 
vantages. It  develops  the  forceful  type,  a 
type  which  the  woman  who  is  to  make  her 
way   in  the   world   should   embody.      I  am 


METHODS  IN  HER  EDUCA  TION.      1  I  3 

also  inclined  to  think  that  the  nervous 
health  of  women  in  the  co-educational  col- 
lege is  better  than  in  the  separate  institu- 
tion. I  judge,  though  holding  the  judgment 
with  diffidence,  that  women  in  the  co-educa- 
tional college  are  less  inclined  toward  fret 
and  worry  and  morbidness  than  in  the  col- 
lege for  themselves  alone.  These  advan- 
tages of  co-education  are  certainly  of  great 
worth. 

The  opinions  of  women  who  have  been 
trained  in  co-educational  colleges  respecting 
the  worth  of  the  co-educational  method  have 
special  value,  and  also,  undoubtedly,  special 
limitations.  The  opinions  of  many  such 
women  have  been  carefully  gathered  by 
Professor  Martha  F.  Crow,  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chicago,  and  from  them  I  make  the 
following  selections:* 

**The  association  is  intellectually  an  in- 
spiration, socially  a  benefit,  and  morally  a 
restraint." 

**I  should  most  certainly  prefer  to  send 
'^^  Forum  y  July,  1894. 


114  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

my  children  to  co-educational  universities: 
boys,  because  of  the  added  stimulus  to  con- 
scientious, scholarly  work  derived  from  the 
example  of  the  girls  in  their  classes;  and 
girls,  because  of  the  greater  likelihood  of 
their  securing  a  fair  standard  of  work." 
^  **  It  is  in  the  interest  of  woman's  advance- 
ment that  men  should  learn  increasingly  to 
respect  her  intellect,  and  also  that  she  her- 
self should  discover  that  she  has  an  intellect 
which  can  cope  with  man's  without  dispar- 
agement. It  will  take  away  her  timidity 
and  give  her  courage.  Women  need  cour- 
age perhaps  more  than  any  other  quality — 
in  order  to  seize  and  make  use  of  the  oppor- 
tunities which  are  opening  to  them  more 
and  more." 

*  *  I  believe  that  intellectually  both  sexes 
are  stimulated  and  helped  by  association 
with  each  other,  and  that  morally  the  habits 
of  each  are  improved  or  kept  from  deteri- 
orating, as  is  too  frequently  the  case  when 
either  sex  gets  together  in  large  numbers. 
There  is  set  up  a  healthful   interchange  of 


METHODS  IN  HER  EDUCA  TION.      I  I  5 

thought  and  magnetic  attraction  between 
the  sexes,  which,  when  not  debased,  adds 
the  chief  charm  to  society  and  lays  the  foun- 
dation for  the  greatest  spiritual  development 
and  inspiration  of  both." 

**The  constant  association  tends  to  lessen 
rather  than  create  the  desire  for  each  other's 
society,  for  that  desire  is  impelled  largely 
by  curiosity  and  the  fascination  which 
always  surrounds  the  forbidden." 

**It  does  away  with  much  false  modesty 
that  afflicts  girls  who  are  kept  to  themselves, 
w^hile  it  does  not  in  the  least  detract  from  a 
girl's  true  modesty  and  refinement." 

*  *  Of  course  we  cannot  overlook  the  special 
times  of  life  when  feeling  is  stronger  than 
thought,  but  I  firmly  believe  these  dangers 
are  lessened  rather  than  aggravated  by  the 
frequent  association  of  young  men  and 
women  under  circumstances  in  which  neither 
class  is  a  special  object  of  interest  to  the 
other,  but  all  are  working  for  a  common 
end." 

*  *  It  leads  to  a  broader  sympathy,  a  truer 


Il6  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

understanding  between  men  and  women; 
and  it  tends  to  banish  that  consciousness  of 
sex  which  is  inimical  to  purity  of  mind." 

**My  theory  is  that  since,  in  the  ideal, 
man  and  woman  are  intended  for  mutual 
service,  the  best  way  of  training  is  a  training 
together.  Daily  knowledge  gives  truer  esti- 
mates of  each  other,  and  suggests  the  most 
useful  means  of  helping  one  another — gives 
more  natural  and  truer  views  of  life." 

**I  further  think  there  is  less  tendency 
toward  what  is  called  a  *  fast  life  *  at  co-edu- 
cational universities  than  at  men's  universi- 
ties." 

**  The  young  woman  and  young  man  can- 
not avoid  the  quicksands  of  moral  destruc- 
tion until  they  know  what  they  are  and 
where  they  lie.  I  am  convinced  they  best 
learn  this  through  daily  contact  from  child- 
hood on,  while  under  the  care  of  judicious 
instruction.  In  this  way,  I  am  hoping  that 
the  wrongful  idea  of  a  double  standard  of 
morality  for  the  two  sexes  may  cease  to 
exist.     I  believe  it  must  cease  to  exist  when 


ME  THODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TION.      I  I  7 

men,  as  co-workers  and  co-students  with 
women,  learn  a  truer  respect  for  woman- 
kind in  general.*' 

**  It  makes  them  stronger  men  and  women; 
they  understand  each  other  better;  judge  of 
character  better;  give  a  higher  mutual  re- 
spect. It  takes  the  simpering  out  of  girls — 
the  roughness  out  of  men." 

**I  believe  it  fits  both  young  men  and 
young  women  for  a  truer  understanding  of 
each  other,  and  lays  the  foundation  for  a 
rational,  generous  sympathy  that  will  make 
our  future  homes  happier  and  tend  to  ele- 
vate society  through  the  home." 

**I  find  in  many  of  the  girls  educated  in 
co-educational  colleges  a  simpler  and  purer 
J  attitude  toward  men  in  general,  than  in 
many  who  have  been  educated  otherwise. 
They  certainly  make  a  very  superior  sort  of 
wife  and  mother,  as  I  have  had  abundant 
opportunity  to  observe.  The  men  who  have 
been  *  co-educated,'  bear  the  marks  of  it 
through  life,  I  believe,  in  their  attitude 
'    toward    women.      They    respect    them    far 


Il8  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

more,  they  unconsciously  treat  them  as 
equals,  and  they  pay  them  that  highest  of 
all  compliments,  the  compliment  of  being 
taken  for  granted,  instead  of  *  specially 
mentioned.'  " 

**It  inculcates,  though  in  unconscious 
learners,  the  truth  that  companionship  is  the 
basis  of  real  happiness  in  married  life." 

It  is  also  to  be  said  that  certain  evils 
which  were  once  feared  as  the  results  of 
introducing  women  into  colleges  with  men 
have  not  occurred.  The  intellectual  stand- 
ards have  not  been  lowered.  This  peril 
was  the  object  to  which  much  writing  was 
devoted  for  many  years.  The  writing  is 
now  forgotten,  and  the  peril  has  ceased, 
even  if  it  ever  existed.  There  is  sex  in 
brain,  but  the  feminine  brain  does  as  good 
work  in  college  as  the  masculine,  the  mas- 
culine as  the  feminine.  It  is  moreover  to 
be  said  that  positive  and  public  immoral 
results  are  neither  so  common  nor  so  grave 
as  were  apprehended.  Whatever  lapses  do 
occur   ought    to   be    dealt   with    by   college 


ME  THODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TIOM.      I  I  9 

authorities  in  secrecy,  and  usually  they  are 
so  dealt  with.  Scandals  are  infrequent;  in 
some  colleges  it  is  affirmed  no  instance  of 
scandal  has  occurred. 

Among  the  disadvantages  of  co-education, 
I  venture  to  ask  whether  co-education 
tends  to  make  the  boy  a  little  girlish,  the 
man  a  little  womanish,  the  girl  a  little 
boyish,  the  woman  a  little  mannish  ?  I 
also  wish  to  inquire  whether  in  the  co- 
educational college  there  is  any  lack  of 
that  fine  chivalric  bearing  of  men  toward 
women,  that  combination  of  dignified  re- 
serve and  graciousness  in  which  one  de- 
lights ?  In  the  same  interrogative  mood  I 
also  ask  whether  the  women  thus  placed 
and  trained  have  a  similar  dignified  reserve 
and  self-poise  ?  But  whatever  answ^er  one 
may  give  to  these  questions,  most  will  agree 
Ithat  the  co-educational  college  does  pro- 
/mote  love  making.  Yet  readers  may  differ 
as  to  which  side,  whether  of  advantage  or 
of  disadvantage,  this  fact  should  be  placed 
on.     It  is  certainly  well,  I  believe,  and  it  is 


I20  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

certainly  pleasant,  I  know,  to  the  mas- 
culine heart,  for  young  people  to  fall  in 
love.  The  family  is  founded  on  the  exclu- 
sive love  of  a  man  for  a  woman,  on  the 
exclusive  love  of  a  woman  for  a  man.  But 
it  should  be  plumply  and  squarely  said  it 
is  not  well  to  fall  in  love  while  in 
college.  Love  making,  love  giving,  love 
receiving,  do  not  promote  scholarship 
usually.  Those  who  conjugate  amo  spe- 
cially in  the  present  tense,  and  in  par- 
ticular in  the  first  person  plural  of  this 
tense,  outside  of  the  recitation  room  in  low 
whispers,  do  not  find  it  easy  to  conjugate 
it  in  the  recitation  room  in  clear  tones. 
This  matter  of  love,  too,  is  one  which  most 
mothers  and  fathers  like  to  have  a  hand 
in.  They  are  keenly  conscious  of  their 
helplessness;  but  as  a  mother  said  lately 
whose  daughter  is  a  student  in  a  college 
for  both  men  and  women,  ' '  I  am  perfectly 
willing  for  my  daughter  to  come  to  love  a 
man  as  I  have  done;  but  it  is  only  fair  to 
her  and    to   her    parents    that    we    should 


ME  THODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TIOA\      I  2  I 

know  something  about  this  crisis."  I  have 
been  told  of  one  far-famed  co-educational 
college  in  which,  in  its  early  decades,  the 
day  following  commencement  was  set  apart 
as  the  day  of  weddings.  Therefore,  the 
charming  opportunity  for  falling  in  love 
we  ought  possibly  to  set  down  on  the 
debit   side  of  the    co-educational  college. 

Possibly  also  this  fact  belongs  in  the 
same  account:  that  a  teacher  would  feel 
more  free  to  teach  certain  subjects  to  women 
alone  or  to  men  alone  than  to  both  together. 
I  can  not  well  think  of  a  subject  which  I 
would  not  as  willingly  teach  to  women  as 
to  men,  were  each  alone;  but  I  can  easily 
think  of  certain  subjects  in  archaeology, 
psychology,  biology,  which  students  of 
either  sex  would  prefer  to  discuss  alone. 

It  is  also  probably  true  that  the  co-educa- 
tional college  is  more  difficult  to  administer 
than  the  separate,  and  is  the  more  difficult 
in  proportion  to  the  intimacy  of  relationship 
between  the  two  sets  of  students.  For  there 
are  degrees  in  co-education ;  the  assembling 


122  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

of  women  and  men  in  the  same  recitation 
room  fifteen  hours  a  week,  coming  to  the 
room  from  homes  widely  scattered  in  a  great 
city,  and  returning  to  these  homes,  is  quite 
unlike  women  and  men  dwelling  on  the 
same  campus  in  a  small  town,  eating  at  the 
same  table  three  times  a  day.  Jack  sitting 
by  the  side  of  Jill  and  Jill  by  the  side  of 
Jack,  and  holding  common  social  and  fra- 
ternity relations.  In  colleges  where  the  co 
of  the  co-education  is  emphasized,  the  ad- 
ministration needs  to  be  of  a  very  personal 
kind,  yet  without  espionage,  firm  without 
hardness,  kindly  without  weakness,  ever 
promotive  of  a  worthy  independence  in  the 
student.  It  is  to  be  said  that,  though  with 
possible  exceptions,  the  State  university, 
which  is  and  ought  to  be  co-educational, 
attempts  little  supervision  of  its  women ;  the 
denominational  college  exercises  careful  and 
constant  supervision. 

The  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  sepa- 
rate education  are  not  quite,  though  largely, 
identical  with  the  disadvantages  and  advan- 


ME  TIIODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TION.      I  2  3 

tages  of  co-education.  I  am  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  in  the  separate  college  we  are 
able  to  train  women  of  a  type  of  larger 
and  sweeter  graciousness,  of  a  delicacy  and 
bloom  a  little  finer,  and  also  that  the  type 
of  manhood  here  cultured  is  a  little  larger, 
stronger  and  more  dignified.  But  it  is  at 
once  to  be  said  that  the  life  tends  toward 
the  monastic  form,  and  the  monastic  form 
is  not  the  best  in  either  college  or  church. 
This  fact  I  feel  deeply  in  respect  to  certain 
of  our  colleges  for  women;  their  parks 
and  their  ponds,  their  woods  and  immense 
grounds,  tend  to  emphasize  their  remoteness 
from  human  relationship,  and  specially  from 
relationship  with  the  masculine  part  of 
human  kind,  both  within  and  without  the 
college. 

A  woman  who  was  herself  educated  in  a 
college  for  both  women  and  men,  thus  writes 
of  certain  disadvantages  of  this  method : 

**  I  think  a  course  in  a  co-educational  col- 
lege is  less  protected  and  agreeable,  socially, 
for  a  girl,  than  a  course  in  a  girl's  college. 


124  ^^^^  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

It  is,  in  some  respects,  rather  a  trying  or- 
deal. If  a  girl  is  accustomed  to  great  social 
consideration  and  protection,  she  would  be 
happier  elsewhere.  A  girl  of  independent 
nature  and  self-reliance  gets  on  very  well, 
and  the  course  of  study  is  certainly  more 
rigid  in  its  requirements,  and  correspond- 
ingly better  worth  taking. 

'*  Logically,  I  see  no  objection  to  co-edu- 
cation; practically,  it  is  harder  for  the  girl 
than  for  the  boy.  She  is  thrown  into  a  very 
critical  atmosphere,  and  is  made  a  subject 
for  comment  by  the  young  men,  in  rather 
an  unpleasant  way.  A  home-like  atmos- 
phere, where  she  need  be  less  upon  her 
guard,  would  leave  her  more  free  for  her 
studies.  I  do  not  think  I  should  send  my 
daughter  to  a  co-educational  institution  un- 
less she  could  live  at  home  at  the  same 
time." 

Co-ordinate  education  represents  a  college 
for  men  as  a  part  of  a  university  and  a  col- 
lege for  women  as  a  part  of  a  university; 
each  college  complete  in  itself,  each  able  to 


ME  THODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TION.      I  2  5 

exist  without  the  other,  but  both  under  one 
general  administration,  both  dwelling  in  one 
scholastic  atmosphere,  both  united  in  loyalty 
to  the  same  ideals  and  joined  in  pursuit  of 
these  ideals  by  similar  methods.  Co-ordi- 
nate education  is  not  co-education,  for  the 
men  and  women  do  not  recite  in  the  same 
classes.  Co-ordinate  education  is  not  sepa- 
rate education,  for  the  teachers  of  the  col- 
lege for  men  usually  teach  also  in  the  col- 
lege for  women,  and  the  teachers  of  the 
college  for  women  usually  teach  also  in  the 
college  for  men ;  the  libraries  are  shared  in 
common,  and  the  administration  of  the  two 
is  identical.  Co-ordinate  education  is  not 
the  annex  system,  for  each  college  is  able  to 
live  without  the  other's  aid;  neither  is  sub- 
ordinate, each  is  co-ordinate. 

Co-ordinate  education  is  as  economical  as 
co-education,  in  case  the  number  of  students 
is  sufficient  to  require  two  teachers  in  the 
chief  studies.  If  the  students  are  not  thus 
numerous,  the  teacher  is  obliged  to  double 
his  hours  of  work  or  the  college  to  hire  two 


126  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

teachers:  either  method  is  expensive.  Co- 
ordination develops  the  masculine  part  of 
the  boy  or  the  feminine  part  of  the  girl,  as 
does  separate  education,  for  in  the  ordinary- 
relations  the  two  sets  of  students  are  dis- 
tinct. It  also  does  not  promote  the  monastic 
type,  for  the  endeavor  is  made  to  put  the 
social  relations  of  young  men  and  young 
women  on  the  basis  of  humanity.  Both 
were  human  beings  before  they  were  stu- 
dents, and  will  be  human  beings  longer. 
Co-ordination  is  sufficiently  close  to  co- 
education to  discipline  the  element  of 
force  which  women,  whose  life  is  to  be  more 
or  less  public,  should  have.  Co-ordination 
under  this  condition  promotes  a  very  sane 
health  and  healthf ulness ;  it  eliminates  ner- 
vousness. Co-ordination  promotes  a  high 
and  broad  scholarship;  it  offers  no  occasion 
for  unwise  squeamishness ;  its  conditions  are 
fine  and  delicate.  It  does  not  tempt  to 
love  giving  or  love  receiving,  any  more  than 
humanity  itself.  It  is  a  method  more  easy 
to  administer  than  the  co-educational.     The 


ME  THODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TION.      I  2  7 

students  are  not  brought  into  relations  so 
intimate  that  even  wisest  parents  can  ask 
questions  of  anxiety.  The  method  allows 
and  invites  that  natural  and  happy  associa- 
tion of  college  men  and  women  which  wisest 
parents  and  college  officers  approve.  The 
method  also  promotes  a  university  spirit 
which  the  woman's  college,  as  usually  con- 
stituted and  circumstanced,  is  not  able  to 
foster. 

There   is   one    consideration    in   favor   of 
the    co-ordinate    system     deserving    special 
mention.       The   strength   of    a   college   lies 
largely  in  the  strength  of  its  teaching  force. 
The  simple  truth  is  that  it  is  far  easier  to 
j  secure    first-rate    teachers    for    the    college 
I  for  women  as  a  part  of  a  university  than  for 
*  the    independent    college    for    women.      It 
would   be   less   difficult   to   secure    the  best 
teachers   for    Radcliffe    College,    if    it   were 
an    integral    part    of    Harvard    University, 
than  for  the  same  college  holding  no  rela- 
tion to  our  oldest  university. 

The  ,  co-ordinate    method    is   that    which 


128  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

would  prevail  at  Cambridge  in  case  Rad- 
cliffe  College  were  an  integral  part  of  Har- 
vard University,  having  a  Faculty  of  its 
own,  and  having  the  same  President  and 
Corporation  which  the  university  itself  has. 
The  co-ordinate  method  is  that  which  pre- 
vails in  the  College  for  Women  of  Western 
Reserve  University  in  Cleveland. 

The  battle  for  the  higher  education  of 
women  is  an  old,  old  battle.  The  contest 
has  waged  mainly  about  the  point  of  co- 
education. This  point  was  in  the  begin- 
ning more  evident,  more  tangible,  more 
real.  For  women  wanted  a  college  edu- 
cation. Colleges  for  men  existed.  It 
seemed  more  natural  to  open  these  col- 
leges to  women  than  to  establish  colleges 
for  them.  The  battle  for  woman's  educa- 
tion has  been  fought  out  on  a  preamble. 
The  contest  has  been  over  a  method,  but 
over  a  method  for  the  sake  of  an  end. 
In  this  condition  it  has  been  easy  for 
every  one  interested  in  the  college  educa-" 
tion  of  women   to  choose   his  side  and  his 


ME  THODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TION.      I  2  9 

weapons.  But  it  can  be  said  no  longer 
that  questioning  of  the  wisdom  of  the 
method  carries  along  with  itself  doubt 
as  to  the  excellence  of  the  end.  One 
can  now  decline  to  affirm  that  co-educa- 
tion is  the  best  method  without  laying 
himself  open  to  the  imputation  of  disbe- 
lieving in  a  college  training  for  young 
women.  The.  question  of  method  need  no 
longer  be  mixed  up  with  the  rightful- 
ness of  the  end.  The  contest  is  closed. 
Women  have  secured  a  recognition  of  their 
right  to  have  the  best  training  which  the 
colleges  of  the  United  States  or  of  England 
can  provide.  In  the  United  States  about 
one-third  of  all  college  students  are 
women,  in  England  a  little  more  than 
one-tenth,  and  in  Switzerland  a  little  less 
than  one-tenth;  but  in  France,  Germany, 
Italy  and  Austria  the  number  of  women 
having  university  privileges  are  very  few. 
In  these  countries  the  battle  is  still  to  be 
fought. 

It  is  probable  that  for  an  indefinite  period 


130  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

will  exist  in  the  United  States  those  three 
methods,  the  co-educational,  the  separate 
and  the  co-ordinate.  Each  of  them  ought 
to  exist;  each  of  them  has  value.  Each 
of  them  possesses  peculiar  advantages  for 
the  needs  of  certain  women.  Each  of 
them  also  possesses  peculiar  disadvantages 
for  the  conditions  and  prospects  of  certain 
women.  The  choice  of  either  method  is 
largely  a  matter  of  taste.  The  question 
of  method,  too,  is  only  one  of  several 
important  questions  in  giving  or  with- 
holding one's  approval  of  a  college.  The 
question  of  the  richness  and  fullness  of 
curricula,  and  the  question  of  the  person- 
ality of  teachers  are  at  least  equally  im- 
portant. 

What  has  been  said  respecting  method 
applies  to  undergraduate  work.  Such 
objections  as  certain  scholars  and  adminis- 
trators hold  against  co-education,  do  not 
apply  with  equal  force  to  graduate  as  to 
undergraduate  students.  The  definiteness 
of     aims,    the     increased     earnestness    and 


ME  THODS  IN  HER  ED  UCA  TION.      I  3  I 

the  more  mature  character  which  be- 
long to  the  greater  age  of  graduate 
students,  may  entirely  or  largely  remove 
difficulties  which  are  found  in  the  way  of 
men  and  women  mingling  in  the  under- 
graduate department.  The  Faculty  of 
Yale  University  knows  very  well  that  to 
admit  women  to  its  graduate  school  is 
quite  unlike  opening  the  doors  of  Yale 
College  to  girls  of  the  age  of  eighteen. 


132  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 


VI. 

DEMANDS   MADE   BY   THE   COMMUNITY   UPON 
HER. 

Women  go  to  college  that  they  may  go 
from  college.  They  re-enter  the  commu- 
nity of  which  they  were  formerly  members. 
But  they  are  not  the  same  persons  that  they 
were  when  they  went  away.  The  commu- 
nity is  inclined  to  look  upon  them  with  some 
degree  of  inquisitiveness,  and  even  of  com- 
pulsion, as  to  their  increased  worth  to  itself. 

It  requires  no  rare  power  of  discrimination 
to  see  and  to  say  that  the  c^ninrunityniay 
demand  that__the  college-bred  woman  shall 
be  a  woman.  Though  the  number  of  college 
men  exceeds  by  many  thousands  the  number 
of  college  women,  yet  she  is  not  to  take  on 
the  qualities  of  the  great  majority  of  gradu- 
ates. Mannishness  in  woman  is  as  deplor- 
able as  w^omanishness  in  man  is  ridiculous. 


DEMANDS  MADE   UPON  HER.         I  33 

All  mannishness  she  is  utterly  to  eschew. 
The  finer  a  civilization  the  greater  the 
differentiations  between  men  and  women. 
Differentiation  helps  to  measure  the  progress 
of  civilization.  If  we  assume  that  a  college 
training  is  a  condition  or  agency  of  civiliza- 
tion, the  conclusion  is  inevitable  that  the 
college  woman  is  less  like  man  than  is  the 
v/oman  not  college-bred.  A  desire  neither 
to  enter  the  employments  nor  to  adopt  the 
manners  of  men  is  the  college  to  inspire  in 
her.  The  college  is  to  train  her  to  claim,  to 
hold,  to  use  her  rights,  but  it  is  not  to  train 
her  to  arrogate  men's  rights.  **Male  and 
female  created  He  them."  The  community 
may  demand  that  the  college  respect  the 
creative  difference. 

The  community  may  also  demand  that  the 
college jvpman  shall  be  a  lady.  The  college 
for  men  helps  to  make  the  gentleman.  The 
college___foT_wqmen,  the  people  require, 
should  help  to  make  the  lady.  If  before 
going  to  college  she  has  been  well-bred,  the 
college  is  to  continue  the  training.     If  she 


134  ^^^^  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

has  not  been  placed  in  the  best  social  condi- 
tions, the  college  is  to  do  what  it  may  toward 
securing  the  best  social  results.  It  may  be 
said  that  the  great  number  of  college  women 
come  from  the  middle  ranks  of  the  com- 
munity. **  If  the  college  woman  lacks  social 
grace,  it  is  because,  as  a  rule,  she  has  sprung 
from  a  class  or  condition  in  which  social 
grace  and  amenity  have  not  been  essential 
factors  of  life.  The  movement  to  educate 
girls  similarly  to  boys  started,  like  most  other 
reforms,  among  what  the  English  call  the 
middle  class,  or  perhaps  the  lower  middle 
class,  and  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  the 
struggle  of  the  parents  of  these  women  has 
been  the  primary  struggle — the  struggle  to 
live.  The  children  of  such  parents  are  not, 
in  the  fierce  labor  of  our  American  life,  apt  to 
be  endowed  with  a  fine,  sensitive,  and  unob- 
trusive— one  rigorously  considerate  of  others 
must  be  unobtrusive — social  individitmn" 
This  interpretation  of  the  social  college  con- 
dition, made  by  an  American  woman  of  Eng- 
lish origin,  every, American  recognizes  to  be 


DEMANDS  MADE   UPON  HER,         1 35 

true.  But  the  women  who  come  out  from 
the  college  have  to  a  degree  ceased  to  be- 
long to  the  common  rank  of  the  community. 
They  represent  not  only  **  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,"  but  also  those  who  are  fittest  to 
survive.  It  is  to  be  said  that  society  de- 
mands, with^greater  severity  than  in  the 
case  of  men,  that  women  shan  have^good 
manners.  Whether  society  is  right  in  this 
exaction,  it  is  not  now  for  me  to  say.  But 
that  society  does  make  it.  is  a  fact.  It  is  a 
fact,  too,  which  we  are  bound  to  take  into 
view  in  thinking  about  the  methods  and  con- 
ditions of  college  training.  It  is  almost  to 
be  feared  that  the  college  for  women  is  in 
peril  of  neglecting  this  consideration.  I  can 
easily  think  of  a  Faculty  of  a  woman's  college 
saying,  *'  What  have  we  to  do  with  the  man- 
ners of  our  students  ?  We  are  set  to  offer 
certain  intellectual  and  ethical  conditions 
and  agencies  of  culture.  The  manners  of 
the  girls  don't  concern  us;  their  mothers 
must  look  after  them."  But  the  simple 
fact  is,   that   the  community  demands   that 


136  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

the  woman  who  is  a  graduate  of  an  Ameri- 
can college  should  have  manners,  and  should 
know  and  obey  the  best  social  laws  and 
usages.  It  were  well  if  every  home  were 
able  to  be  a  proper  aid  in  securing  these 
worthy  results.  Many  homes  are;  more 
ought  to  become  able.  But  the  college  is 
in  a  sense  required  to  stand  sponsor  for 
what  in  certain  relations  the  home  ought 
to  offer.  The  college  is  not  the  finishing 
school,  nor  is  the  finishing  school  the  col- 
lege. But  as  it  would  be  well  to  put  into 
the  finishing  school  the  thoroughness  and 
culture  of  the  college,  so  also  would  it  be 
well  to  put  into  the  college  the  personal 
grace  and  graces  which  receive  attention  in 
the  finishing  school. 

By  what  method  is  the  college  to  meet  the 
demand  that  each  of  its  graduates  shall  be  a 
lady  ?  I  venture  to  quote  from  a  letter 
written  to  me  by  a  professor  of  English  in 
one  of  the  great  State  universities:  '*  Some- 
thing ought  to  be  done  for  the  large  propor- 
tion of  girls  in  Western  colleges,  at  least — 


DEMANDS  MADE   UPON  HER.         I  37 

and  I  have  seen  a  g-ood  many  in  Eastern  col- 
leges who  needed  the  same  thing — who  do 
not  have  proper  home  instruction.  Is  it  not 
a  shame  that  we  have  no  more  direct  way 
than  we  have  of  reaching  a  girl  who  is  ambi- 
tious and  possessed  of  a  sound,  keen  mind, 
but  who  hasn't  been  taught,  who  doesn't 
know,  and  who  learns — if  she  learns — only 
by  experiences  causing  shame  and  chagrin, 
that  she  ought  to  keep  her  person  and 
clothes  clean  and  neat,  and  that  it  is  disa- 
greeable to  others  to  use  quantities  of  cheap 
perfume!  But  how  can  I,  for  instance,  go 
to  a  girl  with  whom  I  have  only  the  slightest 
acquaintance,  and  tell  her  these  things  ? 
Must  there  not  be  some  way  by  which  the 
simple  laws  of  cleanliness,  and  politeness, 
and  refinement  may  be  given  to  students 
without  offense  ?  I  think,  moreover,  that  it 
is  a  great  pity  to  educate  a  girl  without 
teaching  her  the  usages  of  conventional 
society,  how  she  must  answer  or  give  invi- 
tations, how  to  pay  calls,  how  to  write 
formal  letters,  etc.     In  Eastern  colleges  and 


138  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

towns,  where  the  social  standard  of  students 
is  usually  higher,  these  things  are  learned 
without  teachers;  but  in  the  West  the  matter 
often  assumes  the  size  of  a  problem.  In 
this  university  the  problem  is  real.  Such 
things  could  best  be  taught,  I  believe,  by 
women,  who  had  especially  prepared  them- 
selves, in  charge  of  girls'  gymnasiums. 
Gymnastic  exercises  help  to  teach  a  person 
how  to  bear  himself,  give  him  ease  and  free- 
dom from  self-consciousness,  and  compel 
cleanliness;  and  these  more  purely  social 
matters  belong  more  closely  to  the  gymnas- 
tic department  than  to  any  of  the  college 
curricula,  and  could  there  be  applied  effect- 
ively and  in  a  way  less  open  to  hostility  on 
the  part  of  students,  and  to  criticism  from 
other  institutions.  The  movement  of  estab- 
lishing a  woman's  department  of  some  kind 
seems  to  be  general.  It  assumes  a  different 
aspect,  however,  in  co-educational  institu- 
tions. In  these,  nobody  seems  to  know 
exactly  what  such  a  department  should  con- 
tain ;  but  it  is  generally  admitted  that  such 


DEMANDS  MADE  UPON  HER.         I  39 

there  should  be,  and  that  it  should  teach 
girls,  leaving  aside  for  the  moment  the 
purely  intellectual  side  of  college  training, 
such  facts  as  they  will  need  in  any  mode  of 
life,  whether  they  become  wives,  teachers, 
writers,  or  what  not." 

Well  arid  wisely  said  is  much  of  this 
paragraph;  yet  may  it  not  also  be  said 
that  the  college  is  not  in  any  specific  or 
formal  way  to  teach  manners,  but  in  gen- 
eral and  informal  ways  is  to  teach  man- 
ners ?  The  manners  of  college  men  are 
usually  far  superior  to  the  manners  of  men 
who  are  not  college-bred,  but  who  are  of 
the  same  social  standing.  The  college  for 
men  does  not  teach  manners  formally,  but 
it  does  constantly  teach  them  in  general 
and  informal  ways.  Officers  in  colleges 
for  women  may  and  should  offer  a  similar 
tuition  by  similar  methods.  Such  methods 
may  lead  to  results  as  valuable  as  methods 
precise  and  specific. 

The  community  may  further  expect  that 
the    graduate    shall    bring    a    well -trained 


140  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

mind  to  the  duties  of  the  housekeeper  and 
home-maker.  Most  college  women,  like 
most  women,  marry.  Marriage  to  a 
woman  is  equivalent  to  becoming  always 
a  home-maker  and  usually  a  housekeeper. 
It  is  not  now  necessary  to  elaborate  any 
proposition  as  to  the  importance  of  the 
home  in  the  constitution  of  society  or  of 
the  commonwealth.  It  is  sufficient  to  say 
that  no  part  of  the  social  constitution  of 
humanity  is  more  important  than  the  home. 
The  home  offers  an  opportunity  for  the 
spending  of  every  treasure  and  the  use  of 
every  power.  The  well-tramed  mindjfinds 
in  the  home  a  chance  for  using  its  train- 
ing. For  the  solution  of  the  problems  of 
the  home  no  discipline  is  too  thorough, 
too  profound,  too  accurate.  Its  manifold 
conditions  allow  the  expenditure  of  mani- 
fold intellectual  and  moral  wealth.  Jhe 
community  may  demand  that  the  home  in 
which  the  college  woman  is  the  head  shall 
be  a  home  of  the  worthiest  type. 

The   community  may  demand  leadership 


DEMANDS  MADE   UPON  HER.         \\\ 

of  the  college  woman.  This^  leadership 
may  relate  to  the  work  of  the  church,  to 
philanthropic  movements,  to  social  affairs, 
and  to  the  popular  literary  undertakings 
of  the  time.  Intellectual  discipline,  a  self- 
confidence  born  of  the  competition  of  col- 
lege life,  a  modesty  which  is  born  of  the 
consciousness  of  limitations,  fit  her  for  the 
sublime  task  of  leadership.  It  is  some- 
times remarked  that  the  executive  part  of 
woman's  nature  is  not  so  strong  as  the 
intellectual.  But  college  life  trains  the 
executive  and  administrative  qualities  of 
women.  College  life  has  disciplined  her 
power  of  adjusting  herself  to  her  relations. . 
College  life  has  also  trained  her  for  execu- 
tive service  through  the  doing;  of  service 
of  this  character  in  the  many  undergradu- 
ate undertakings.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
that  the  wisest  and  most  promising  phil- 
anthropic work  done  is  the  work  done  by 
college  women  in  college  settlements.  It 
is  also  recognized  that  the  most  aggressive 
missionary  work   done  in  churches  is  done 


142  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

by  women.  It  needs  no  mention  that  in 
most  social  affairs  woman  is  the  adminis- 
trator. In  all  these  fields  the  college 
woman  is  worthy  of  being  a  leader. 
^  The  community  may  further  demand  that 
the  college  woman  shall  have  a  character 
stronger,  richer,  finer  than  is  found  in  the 
women  not  college-educated.  A  college 
education  helps  to  free  women  from  cer- 
tain peculiar  temptations.  The  peculiar 
temptations  of  men  are  quite  unlike  those 
of  women.  The  temptations  of  men  are 
appetite,  avarice,  ambition.  The  tempta- 
tions of  women  belong,  as  has  been  before 
suggested,  to  the  field  of  admiration. 
Women  do  not  lose  self-consciousness  so 
easily  as  men.  Women  are  prone  to  view 
all  questions  from  points  far  more  per- 
sonal than  men.  A  college  education 
tends  to  eliminate  such  conditions.  It 
promotes  breadth  of  vision.  It  trims 
down  projecting  points  of  individuality. 
It  causes  a  woman  to  think  less  of  herself 
as   a   centre   of   things.       It   thus   tends   to 


DEMANDS  MADE   UPON  HER,         1 43 

promote  strength,  richness,  fineness  of 
character. 

The  community  may  or  may  not  demand 
of  the  college  woman  much  knowledge, 
but  the  community  may  demand  that  she 
have  large-mindedness  and  large-hearted- 
ness,  that  she  have  strength  without  rude- 
ness, individuality  without  eccentricity, 
self-confidence  without  vanity,  compre- 
hensiveness without  neglect  of  detail,  faith- 
fulness to  small  duties  without  lack  of 
noble  imagination,  a  deep  love  for  human- 
ity without  forgetfulness  of  the  love  of  God, 
and  a  love  of  God  which  finds  its  reward 
in  a  more  loyal  service  in  love  to  humanity. 

The  community  may  also  demand  of  the 
college  woman  that  she  give  aid  in  the 
adjustment  of  the  increasing  independence 
of  woman  to  the  maintaining  of  a  fine, 
womanly  character.  The  progress  of 
humanity  which  Sir  Henry  Sumner  Maine 
embodies  in  the  phrase,  **a  movement  from 
status  to  contract,"*  is  well  illustrated  in 
^Ancient  Law,  p.  165. 


144  ^^^  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

the  advance  of  what  is  popularly  known 
as  the  cause  of  women's  rights.  For  the 
power  to  make  a  contract  implies  rights. 
In  and  of  itself  no  one  can  but  rejoice  in 
such  increasing  liberty.  Yet  by  no  means 
do  all  rejoice  in  this  movement;  not  a  few 
lament  or  at  least  question.  It  is  prob- 
able that  any  one  who  might  be  inclined 
to  lament  or  to  question  the  wisdom  of 
this  presumed  progress  would  find  that 
his  doubt  arose  from  the  fear  lest  inde- 
pendence should  rob  women  of  certain 
precious  traits  or  elements  of  womanhood. 
Will  independence  take  away  the  reserve, 
the  delicacy  and  other  graces  which  are 
often  denominated  feminine  ?  Do  we  not 
see,  it  may  be  asked,  that  women  who  are 
obliged  to  make  their  way  pay  for  a  certain 
aggressive  energy  the  price  of  gentleness  ? 
It  is  indeed  to  be  feared  that  increasing 
freedom  and  enlarging  opportunity,  pre- 
cious as  they  are,  are  to  bear  along  with 
themselves  serious  disadvantages.  In  this 
condition  the  college  woman  may  render  a 


DEMANDS  MADE   UPON  HER,         1 45 

large  service  to  all  women.  The  college 
woman  is  trained  to  think  and  to  do  for  her- 
self. She  is  independent.  She  has  come 
into  this  large  freedom  under  conditions  most 
favorable  for  its  present  development  and 
its  still  further  enlargement.  The  bloom  of 
her  womanhood  has  been  rather  developed 
than  diminished.  She  is  still  nobly,  strongly 
feminine;  simply  womanly.  She  is  there- 
fore fitted  to  stand  as  an  example  to  all 
women  of  an  independence  which  is  not 
mannish  but  gentle,  of  a  reserve  which  is  not 
timid  but  at  once  self-respectful  and  forceful. 
The  community  may  indeed  justly  require 
that  the  college  shall  so  train  its  gradu- 
ates that  they  may  minister  to  a  proper 
adjustment  of  a  full  independence  of 
womanhood  to  the  dignities  and  graces  of 
womanly  character. 

The  women  who  have  attained  high  rank 
as  scholars  are  few.  But  a  few  have 
attained  high  rank.  For  it  is  notorious 
that  it  is  hard  to  find  women  who  meet 
the   same    tests   that    are   applied    to    men, 


146  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

in  filling  chairs  in  our  colleges.  But 
the  community  has  less  interest  whether 
the  number  of  women  who  do  become 
great  scholars  be  many  or  few,  than  that 
the  women  who  graduate  shall  be  well 
qualified  to  do  the  duties  which  come  to 
them  in  the  ordinary  relations.  The  com- 
munity is  perfectly  willing  for  woman  to 
adopt  any  kind  of  scholarly  or  mercantile 
or  literary  work  which  she  is  able  to  do. 
No  limitation  should  be  placed  to  the  use 
of  her  powers.  But  the  community  knows 
that  the  laws  of  nature  are  comparatively 
invincible.  Women  can  therefore  be 
trusted  to  do  whatever  they  wish  to  do. 
The  laws  of  the  statute  book,  of  course, 
should  never  prove  a  limitation  to  the  free 
play  of  the  laws  of  nature.  Under  condi- 
tions of  freedom,  therefore,  the  community 
may  expect  to  find  that  when  called  to  be 
the  head  of  a  home  the  college  woman  will 
not  be  found  unworthy,  or  when  summoned 
to  leadership  she  will  be  able  to  guide  and 
to    inspire,    or   when    invited    to    teach    she 


DEMANDS  MADE   UPON  HER.         1 47 

will  be  able  to  instruct.  The  community 
may  also  expect  that  the  character  which 
she  bears  into  every  active  relation  shall 
be  the  largest,  noblest,  best. 


148  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 


VII. 

AFTER  HER  GRADUATION. 

The  ordinary  motives  act  in  varying 
degrees  of  force  and  with  different  results 
upon  men  and  upon  women.  The  desire 
for  knowledge  may  be  as  strong  with 
women  as  with  men;  but  the  desire  for 
wealth  is  considerably  weaker  with  women 
and  the  desire  for  reputation  is  very  much 
weaker.  That  class  of  desires  which  find 
their  satisfaction  in  the  home,  are,  how- 
ever, far  stronger  with  women  than  with 
men. 

That  the  desire  for  reputation  plays  a 
small  part  in  the  constitution  and  work  of 
women,  receives  rather  ample  illustration  in 
certain  facts  which  I  have  gathered  from 
Appletons'  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biog- 
raphy. These  facts  also  prove  how  slight 
are    the  results   which   college-bred  women 


AFTER  HER  GRADUATION.  1 49 

have,  up  to  the  present  time,  worked  in 
American  life. 

Appletons'  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biog- 
raphy contains  between  fifteen  and  sixteen 
thousand  names,  of  which  only  six  hun- 
dred and  thirty-three  are  names  of  women. 
For  every  set  of  the  names  of  twenty-five 
men,  there  is  the  name  of  only  one 
woman.  Of  these  six  hundred  and  thirty- 
three,  three  hundred  and  twenty  are 
authors;  seventy-three  are  singers  or  ac- 
tresses; ninety-one  are  painters  or  sculp- 
tors; sixty-eight  are  educators;  twenty-one 
may  be  called  philanthropists  ;  fourteen  are 
missionaries;  thirteen  doctors  ;  twenty-eight 
may  be  described  as  having  their  places  in 
this  book  because  of  heroic  deeds.  There 
are  also  three  who  are  described  as  en- 
gaged in  business,  one  in  nursing  and  one 
in  following  the  profession  of  the  law. 

These  facts  are  somewhat  significant. 
At  first  it  seems  strange  that  the  propor- 
tion of  distinguished  men  outnumbers 
the     proportion     of     distinguished     women 


150  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

as  twenty-five  to  one.  But  the  appar- 
ent incongruity  is  easily  removed.  Most 
women  find  their  work  in  the  family. 
Work  as  a  wife  and  as  a  mother  is  not 
work  that  can  lead  to  distinction.  However 
famous  a  son  may  become,  or  a  hnsband 
may  be,  the  wife  and  the  mother  remains 
unknown  except  as  the  fame  of  the  hus- 
band or  son  may  reflect  glory  upon  her. 
She,  of  course,  may  be  far  more  worthy 
than  either.  Her  intellectual  acumen  may 
be  greater,  her  sources  of  knowledge 
richer,  her  strength  of  character  nobler. 
But,  so  long  as  she  finds  her  profession  in 
the  home,  so  long  she  may  flatter  herself 
that  she  cannot  usually  become  famous. 

It  may  also  be  said  that  most  women 
prefer  the  home  with  its  security  from 
fame,  to  more  public  work  with  the  an- 
noyances resulting  from  reputation.  Most 
women  prefer  to  find  what  they  wish  life 
to  be  to  them  in  and  through  marriage. 

Of  these  six  hundred  and  thirty-three 
women,   the   division    between    the  number 


AFTER  HER  GRADUA  TION.  I  5  I 

of  the  married  and  of  the  unmarried  is 
almost  equal, — three  hundred  and  twenty 
and  three  hundred  and  thirteen  respec- 
tively. The  larger  part  of  women  marry. 
Therefore  the  proportion  of  distinguished 
women  among  the  unmarried  is  larger 
than  among  the  married.  This  fact  sug- 
gests the  question,  does  the  woman  who  is 
famous  prefer  not  to  marry,  or  does  the 
woman  unmarried  have  a  better  oppor- 
tunity for  doing  conspicuous  work  ?  Which 
condition  is  cause  and  which  effect?  Is 
fame  or  the  power  of  securing  fame  a 
cause  of  preferring  a  single  life,  or  is 
singleness  a  condition  for  the  promotion 
of  fame?  Both  conditions  seem  to  me  to 
act  as  causes,  and  both  also  appear  as 
results.  Certain  women  of  large  abilities 
prefer  a  ** career"  and  decline  the  home. 
Certain  women  also  find  that,  freed  from 
the  cares  of  the  home,  they  are  able  to 
work  out  what  they  chose  to  call  their 
career.  Certain  women,  and  most,  decline 
a    **  career"  and   prefer   the   home.     Yet  it 


152  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

is  to  be  said  that  women  who  have  been 
both  mistresses  of  a  home  and  yet  have 
won  laurels  in  public  life,  are  large  in 
number  and  strong  in  character.  This 
duplicity  of  relationships  is,  of  course, 
more  easily  had  in  the  case  of  the  author 
than  of  the  teacher  or  the  actor. 

These  figures  are  also  significant  in  respect 
to  the  abilities  of  women  and  the  conditions 
of  their  training.  It  is  quite  frequently  said 
that  women  are  the  educators  of  the  race, 
both  in  the  home  and  in  the  school-room. 
The  number  of  women  in  certain  States  in 
the  school-room  is  five  times  greater  than 
the  number  of  men.  So  strongly  impressed 
was  the  founder  of  one  of  our  colleges  for 
Women  with  the  superior  fitness  of  women 
for  teaching,  that  he  allowed  no  man  to  be- 
come a  member  of  the  Faculty.  And  yet, 
out  of  the  whole  number  here  represented, 
only  one  in  nine  has  become  a  distinguished 
teacher.  The  proportion  is  greater  in  the 
case  of  singers  or  actresses,  and  also  in  the 
case  of  painters  and  sculptors.     Of  course, 


AFTER  HER  GRA  D  UA  TION.  I  5  3 

also,  it  is  far  greater  in  the  case  of  authors. 
The  reason,  however,  of  this  anomaly  is  not 
far  to  seek.  Until  recent  years  women  have 
had  no  worthy  opportunity  of  securing  that 
training  requisite  for  becoming  educators. 
Men  have  had  this  opportunity  from  the 
beginning  of  American  life.  Educators  are 
seldom  self-educated.  But  the  training 
which  life  may  give  for  writing  books  has 
been  open  to  them  quite  as  completely  as  to 
men.  The  teaching  of  experience  has  been 
as  fruitful  to  the  one  sex  as  to  the  other.  In 
respect  to  work  in  the  fine  arts,  women  have 
had  advantages  more  akin  to  those  offered 
to  men  than  in  the  field  of  education.  The 
higher  education  is  not  so  necessary  for  one 
to  do  the  best  work  in  singing  a  song,  in 
acting  a  part,  in  painting  a  picture,  in  cut- 
ting marble,  or  in  writing  a  novel,  as  it  is  in 
teaching  calculus,  or  in  reading  Kant,  or  in 
administering  a  college. 

Certain  other  facts  derived  from  this  ex- 
amination of  Appletons'  Cyclopedia  are  sug- 
gestive.    Of  the  three  hundred  and  twenty 


154  ^^^  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

women  who  have  become  famous  through 
their  writings,  the  larger  part  had  received 
no  college  training.  Only  nine  are  enrolled 
as  college  graduates.  Fifty-eight  received 
their  education  at  what  is  called  a  seminary, 
and,  respecting  the  remaining  number,  no 
special  method  of  intellectual  training  is 
suggested.  Of  artists,  only  one  out  of 
ninety-one  had  a  college  training,  and  only 
four  a  seminary  training.  Of  singers  and 
actresses,  also,  only  one  had  a  college  and 
only  two  had  a  seminary  training.  Of  the 
educators  seven  are  described  as  having  a 
college  and  sixteen  as  having  a  seminary 
education.  Of  the  missionaries,  one,  and 
one  only,  is  college-bred,  and  six  are  from 
the  seminary.  Of  those  who  are  called  phi- 
lanthropists, one  only  is  of  the  seminary, 
and  of  those  who  are  denominated  **  hero- 
ines," only  two.  Out  of  the  six  hundred  and 
thirty-three  persons  named,  only  nineteen 
are  of  college  extraction  and  eighty-eight 
are  graduates  of  the  seminary.  It  is  appar- 
ent   that    the   college   woman   as  a   college 


AFTER  HER  GRADUA  TION.  I  5 5 

woman  has  not  yet  become  famous.  An 
examination  has  been  made  of  Appletons' 
Cyclopedia  proving  that  the  work  of  men 
who  are  college-bred  has  far  greater  promise 
of  becoming  of  conspicuous  merit  than  the 
work  of  men  who  are  not  thus  trained.  No 
such  argument  can  be  derived  from  these 
figures  respecting  the  work  of  college 
women.  The  reason,  however,  most  evi- 
dent is  simply  that  the  college  woman  is  a 
new  creation;  she  has  not  yet  had  time  to 
prove  what  she  can  do.  She  is  still  quite  an 
unfinished  product.  Out  of  every  thirty- 
three  men  mentioned  in  Appletons'  Cyclo- 
pedia, eleven  are  college-bred.  Out  of 
every  thirty-three  women  named,  only  one 
is  college-bred. 

It  is  not  for  a  moment  to  be  questioned 
but  that  an  increasing  number  of  American 
women  are  to  become  conspicuous.  For  the 
proportion  who  are  being  trained  for  the 
best  service  rapidly  enlarges.  Large  and 
strong  intellectual  training  is  the  one  condi- 
tion which  was  lacking   in  the  past.     This 


156  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

condition  is  now  abundantly  offered. 
Whether  married  or  unmarried,  we  shall 
in  the  future  find  many  and  more  women 
who  have  received  the  best  training 
through  the  college,  doing  the  noblest  work 
by  wisest  methods  and  with  results  rich  for 
humanity. 

Women  do  not  go  to  college  in  order  to 

^  marry,  but  they  will  contract  marriages 
the  more  worthy  through  having  gone  to 
college.  Women  do  not  go  to  college  to 
become  wives — the  thought  is,  I  believe, 
contrary    to    the    usual    conception,    and   as 

\  has  been  before  suggested,  quite  abhorrent 
to  tjiem — but  they  will  become  better 
(^  wives  and  nobler  mothers  through  having 
gone.  The  home  will  become  more  what 
it  ought  to  be  through  having  a  college 
woman  as  its  mistress.  A  power  thus 
enriched  and  disciplined,  acting  at  the  very 
fountain  and  origin  of  the  race,  will  do 
much  for  human  welfare  and  to  promote 
human  progress.  It  represents  a  distinct 
addition    to   the  best    forces    of    humanity. 


AFTER  HER  GRADUA  TION.  I  5  7 

All  that  poetry   has    sung    and  love    felt  as 
to  the   home   enriching   life    and   as    to   the 
power     of    motherhood     in    rendering    the 
noblest     service,     will     become    the     more    \ 
true. 

A  woman,  herself  distinguished  as  a 
scholar,  and  as  the  executive  in  a  college 
for  women,  writes  me,  saying:  *' I  have  ^ 
never  been  able  to  see  why  it  is  more 
necessary  to  educate  a  woman  to  become 
a  wife,  than  a  man  to  become  a  hus-  | 
band."  The  remark  is  apparently  true  and 
wise.  But  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
marriage  represents  to  a  woman  a  voca- 
tion in  a  sense  which  it  does  not  repre-^ 
sent  to  a  man.  Marriage  is  to  her  the 
door  to  her  work  as  a  housekeeper  and 
homemaker.  Marriage  causes  no  such 
fundamental  change  in  the  ordinary  work 
and  relations  of  a  man.  Yet,  it  is  true 
that  ''the  best  thing  still  is  to  make  the 
most  of  a  woman  we  can  out  of  her,  and 
then  to  trust  the  disciplined  woman  we 
have   fashioned    to    answer  for  herself    the 


158  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

demands  to  come  to  her  in  the  misty 
future,  which  she  will  see,  and  which  she 
can  judge,  but  which  we  shall  not  see  and 
which  no  man  can   foretell."* 

Many  graduates,  however,  will  not 
marry;  m^any  will  by  the  force  of  instinct 
or  condition  be  led  into  a  service  akin  to 
the  service  of  the  home,  namely,  the  work 

r^of  teaching.  For  teaching  represents  a 
work  as   necessary   and   as    essential  to  the 

,  betterment  of  the  race  as  the  work  of  and 
for  and  through  the  home.  To  commend 
its  usefulness  or  the  richness  of  its  oppor- 
tunities for  enriching  character  is  more 
than  superfluous.  College  women  should 
enter  not  only  its  higher  grades,  but  also 
its  lower.  Public  education  in  the  United 
States  stands  in  greater  need  of  refined, 
strong,  wise  womanhood,  in  its  primary 
schools,  than  in  its  high  schools.  The  col- 
lege woman  is  to  train  girls  and  boys, 
not   so   much   in    those    studies    which    she 

■5^  Anna  C.  Brackett,  in  Woman  and  the  Higher  Educa- 
tion, p.   179. 


AFTER  HER  GRADUATION.  I  59 

has  pursued  in  college,  as  to  bring  a 
large  and  disciplined  mind  to  the  teaching 
of  studies  of  every  grade.  The  time 
should  be  not  far  remote  when  a  woman 
who  is  not  a  graduate  should  have  diffi- 
culty in  securing  any  place  to  teach. 

Many  graduates,  however,  return  to  the 
homes  which  they  left  four  years  before 
to  enter  college.  Most  college  women  who 
marry,  marry  later  than  those  who  are  not 
college-bred.  The  relation  which  these 
daughters  occupy  in  their  homes  may  be 
somewhat  singular.  Many  parents  rather 
oppose,  at  least  through  indifference,  any 
suggestions  as  to  any  special  work  for 
their  daughters.  Many  parents  are  unwill- 
ing for  their  daughters  to  become  teach- 
ers. Pecuniary  motives  have  no  power. 
They  wish  these  children  to  be  content 
with  being  the  *^  daughter-at-home."  The 
mother  feels  that  after  these  years  of 
absence  she  wishes  her  daughter  to  be 
with  her.  In  such  a  wish  one  can  only 
sympathize.     One   almost   hesitates   to  sug- 


l6o  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

gest  the  question,  whether  even  a  parent 
can  not  be  selfish  ?  Does  one  expect  a 
son  whose  mind  is  well-stored  and  disci- 
plined to  be  a  son-at-home  ?  The  life  of 
the  son  who  is  a  new  graduate  is  flung 
into  some  form  of  activity;  can  we  ask  for 
the  daughter,  a  new  graduate,  to  be  con- 
tented, flung  into  a  passive  state  ?  The 
first  years  following  college  are  to  many  a 
young  woman  years  of  suffering.  She  is 
trained  for  action  and  activity,  and  she 
finds  passivity  her  lot.  She  is  trained  for 
thinking  upon  large  things,  and  she  finds 
her  environment  tempts  her  to  think  upon 
small  things.  She  is  trained  for  a  large 
outlook  upon  affairs,  and  her  condition 
seems  to  impel  her  to  narrowness  of  vision. 
It  is  not  strange  that  she  comes  to  look 
back  on  college  as  a  very  beautiful  and 
sacred  place,  and  to  wish  that  she  were 
again  a  Freshman.  Her  condition  is  the 
reverse  of  that  to  which  Wordsworth 
alludes  in  Laodimia: 

"  The  past  unsighed  for  and  the  future  sure." 


AFTER  HER  GRADUA  TION.  I  6 1 

The  past  is  sig'hed  for,  and  the  future  is 
not  sure. 

I  may  add  that  this  suffering  of  mind 
is  the  cause  of  the  ill  health  of  body  with 
which  some  college  women  are  afflicted  in 
the  first  years  following-  graduation. 

No !  no  woman  can  be  expected  to  go 
from  the  commencement  platform  to  her 
knitting  work  and  her  calls.  No  college 
woman  at  the  close  of  the  century  can 
become  a  young  lady  of  that  type  which 
Jane  Austen  described  at  the  beginning  of 
the  century.  No  parent  should  ask  for  such 
a  sacrifice;  no  parent  in  w4se  thought- 
fulness  does  suggest  it.  Every  woman 
should  in  the  first  years  after  her  gradu- 
ation take  up  work  of  some  kind.  She  may 
well  devote  herself  to  some  worthy  form 
of  social  activity.  She  may  well,  even  if 
freed  from  the  impulse  of  pecuniary 
motives,  devote  herself  to  teaching  in  some 
form.  She  may  well  continue  her  studies. 
The  increasing  number  of  women  who  are 
becoming     candidates     for     the    degree    of 


1 62  THE  COLLEGE    IVOMA^T. 

Doctor  of  Philosophy  shows  that  the  desire 
that  a  college  training  shall  not  be  the 
standard  of  education,  is  becoming  very- 
general. 

A  woman,  w^ho  is  a  graduate  and  who  is 
also  an  able  teacher,  writes  me  thus  respect- 
ing the  work  of  the  college  graduate : 

**  Regarding  the  highest  function  of  women 
as  that  of  home-making,  and,  in  connection 
with  that  of  controlling,  refining  and  uplift- 
ing society,  I  think  that  a  woman  should  be 
ready,  at  the  close  of  her  college  course,  to 
take  up  gladly  and  gracefully  her  relations 
with  society,  and  exert  there  a  decisive  influ- 
ence. By  society  in  this  case,  I  mean  her 
own  personal  environment,  whatever  that 
may  be.  Under  the  present  conditions, 
however,  the  reverse  is  usually  the  case. 
The  four  years  of  college  life  tend  to 
strongly  individualize  a  woman,  and  too 
often  leave  her  at  its  close  strangely  out  of  i 
sympathy  with  the  world  in  which  she  must 
henceforth  move.  She  is  at  a  loss  how  to 
take  up  the  threads  of  out-of-door  life  once 


AFTER  HER  GRADUATION.  I  63 

more,  and  misses  the  close  sympathies  and 
congenial  atmosphere  to  which  she  has  been 
accustomed;  while  others,  mistaking  her 
feeling  for  a  fancied  superiority,  are  apt 
to  shrink  from  her  and  further  prevent  what 
would  otherwise  be  a  mutually  helpful  con- 
nection. The  same  thing  may  be  true  of  a 
college  man  at  first,  but  is  much  less  notice- 
able, and  his  enforced  contact  with  men  and 
things  in  time  overcomes  it  more  or  less 
wholly." 

Women  are  becoming  the  leisure  class  in 
the  community;  and  college  women  are  also 
fast  becoming  the  educated  class.  They  are 
able,  if  not  owing  special  duties  to  the  home, 
to  give  much  attention  to  matters  which  de- 
mand the  strength  of  the  strongest,  the  wis- 
dom of  the  wisest.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
find  a  worthier  opportunity  of  influence  than 
our  public  school  system  presents.  College 
women  have  been  influential  in  establishing 
high  schools  for  girls  in  many  towns;  but 
they  may  discover  a  place  of  influence  quite 
as  opportune  and  certainly  more  frequent  in 


164  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN. 

the  improvement  of  the  schools  already 
established.  The  riddance  of  our  public 
schools  of  any  sign  of  political  partisan  influ- 
ence, the  appointment  and  promotion  of 
teachers  on  the  ground  of  merit,  the  erection 
and  proper  care  of  school  buildings,  the 
endeavor  to  promote  in  diverse  ways  public 
and  personal  enthusiasm  for  the  schools, 
represent  fields  and  methods  which  are  pecu- 
liarly attractive  to  the  college  woman. 
Such  work  may  be  done  by  the  college 
woman  who  is  also  a  happy  and  useful 
member  of  her  home. 

The  vast  work  of  the  organization  and 
administration  of  charity  represents,  too,  a 
service  which  the  college  woman  has  pecu- 
liar gifts  for  entering.  Many  charitable 
schemes  perpetuate  the  evils  which  they  are 
designed  to  cure.  College  women  are 
woine7t:  they  have  tenderness  and  sympa- 
thy ;  college  w^omen  are  college  women :  they 
have  a  clear  understanding  of  the  origin  of 
distressing  poverty,  and  should  have  a 
method    for    dealing    properly    with     these 


AFTER  HER  GRADUA  TION.  1 65 

dreadful  problems.  The  college  settlement 
represents  one  agency  for  the  general  eleva- 
tion of  a  certain  part  of  a  town.  Other 
agencies  abound.  In  some  one  of  these 
every  college  woman  should  have  an  interest. 

The  domestic  and  the  public  work  of  the 
well  trained  women  are  suggested  by  Dr. 
W.  T.   Harris  in  saying: 

**The  strictly  educational  influence  of 
the  family  is  called  nurture.  Parental  care 
watches  over  the  years  of  helplessness  and 
slowly  trains  childhood  into  the  forms  and 
conventionalities  of  civilized  life.  The  gen- 
eral characteristic  of  nurture  is  the  fact 
that  physical  and  intellectual  maturity 
devotes  itself  to  the  wants  and  capacities 
of  helpless  infancy,  and  with  infinite  pa- 
tience draws  out  and  encourages  self-devel- 
opment and  free  activity  in  the  child.  The 
treatment  due  to  the  mature  man  or 
woman  would  destroy  the  child.  The  fact 
that  the  special  vocation  of  w^oman,  in  so 
far  as  determined  by  sex,  involves  this 
special   feature  of    nurture    furnishes   us    a 


1 66  THE  COLLEGE   WOMAN, 

significant  point  to  be  considered  in  the 
discussion  of  this  theme.  It  indicates  that, 
as  government  comes  to  be  less  a  matter 
of  abstract  justice  and  more  a  matter  of 
providing  for  the  people  that  which  will 
enhance  their  capacity  for  self-activity, 
woman's  aid  will  be  more  and  more  needed 
in  political  affairs.  Education  is  one  of 
the  functions  that  appertains  to  this  pro- 
viding for  what  will  further  the  self- 
activity  of  its  citizens.  All  of  the  weak- 
lings of  the  community  need  more  or  less 
to  have  nurture  provided  for  them  in  the 
shape  of  educational  and  other  restraining 
and  directing  influences.  Woman  is  by 
nature  adapted  to  this  work,  and  will  find 
a  very  important  field  of  activity  in  this 
phase  of  municipal  administration."* 

Yet  the  results  of  the  training  given  to 
women  are  not  to  be  limited  to  any  single 
field  of  thought  or  of  endeavor.  The  college 
woman  is  to  do  whatever  she  wishes  to  do, 

*  Editor's  Preface,  Lange's  Higher  Education  of  Women 
in  Europe,  pp.  xv.,  xvi. 


AFTER  HER  GRADUATION.  1 67 

and  as  she  wishes  to  do.  Her  instinct,  her 
power,  her  worth,  her  training  will  prove 
sufficient  and  efficient  guides.  She  is  to 
get  ready  her  tools.  Her  chief  tool  is  her- 
self.    God  will  find  her  work. 

Yet  the  excellence  of  the  womanhood 
which  the  college  trains  is  the  ultimate 
and  supreme  test  of  the  worth  of  the 
college.  The  type  of  character  which  it 
forms  and  the  influence  of  this  type  are 
now  becoming  revealed.  The  women's 
college  is  not  to  introduce  a  new  type. 
The  early  fears  that  mannishness  would 
supplant  womanliness  in  the  graduate  have 
been  proved  groundless.  The  early  fears, 
too,  that  educated  women  would  prefer  to 
enter  professional,  rather  than  domestic 
life,  have  vanished.  So  long  as  the  family 
remains  the  unit  of  civilization,  so  long 
will  most  women  prefer  to  be  the  head  of 
a  home,  to  being  the  head  of  any  profes- 
sional or  commercial  tmdertaking.  And 
all  the  wealth  of  acquired  knowledge,  all 
the   force  of    disciplined    strength,    all    the 


1 68  THE  COLLEGE    WOMAN. 

enlarged  nobility  of  character,  which  the 
college  may  have  contributed,  will  find  in 
the  home  fitting  opportunities  for  use. 

But  the  home,  central  as  it  is  in  the 
present  constitution  of  humanity,  does  not 
exist  for  itself;  it  exists  for  nothing  less 
than  humanity.  Therefere,  through  the 
home  the  college  woman  will  contribute  to 
the  enrichment  and  the  enlargement  of  the 
best  forces  of  humanity.  The  progress  of 
humanity  is  slow;  all  its  interests  are 
united  to  that  past  out  of  which  they  have 
gradually  emerged;  and  its  more  important 
interests  are  more  or  less  bound  together 
to  resist  rapid  change.  But  the  effects 
which  will,  in  the  course  of  generations, 
be  wrought  through  having  the  finest  type 
of  the  intellectual  woman  regnant  at  the 
centre  of  the  life  of  the  race,  cannot  be 
even  intimated — so  vital,  so  comprehensive, 
so  great  will  these  effects  be.  Results 
noble  and  splendid  are  already  beginning 
to  appear;  and  when  these  results  do  come 
at   last   to   reveal   themselves  in   their    full 


AFTER  HER  GRADUATION, 


169 


glory  the  prophecy  of  Tennyson's  line  will 
be  fulfilled: 

"  Then  comes  the  stateher  Eden  back  to  men." 


BAKER  (&   TAYLOR  CO/S  PUBLICATION'S. 
PRESIDENT    THWING'S    NE'W    BOOK. 

WITHIN  COLLEGE  WALLS.  By  Charles  Franklin 
Thwing,  President  of  Adelbert  College  and  of 
Western  Reserve  University ;  Author  of  "  Ameri- 
can Colleges :  their  Students  and  Work," ' ' Heading 
of  Books,"  "The  Working  Church"  ;  Joint-Author 
of  "The  Family:  an  Historical  and  Social  Study," 
etc.     16mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.00. 

Contents  :— I.  The  College  and  the  Home  11.  The  Good 
of  being  in  College.  III.  The  College  Forming  Character. 
IV.  Certain  College  Temptations.  V.  College  Government. 
VI.  Play  in  College.  VII.  Simplicity  and  Enrichment  of  Life 
in  College.  VIII.  The  College  and  the  Church.  IX.  The 
College  Fitting  for  Business.  X.  Tlie  Pre-eminence  of  the 
College  Graduate. 

For  fifteen  years  President  Thwing  has  been  writing  con- 
stantly upon  College  subjects;  his  first  work  having  borne  the 
title  of  "  American  Colleges."  The  present  book  discusses,  in 
a  liberal  spirit,  those  topics  which  are  uppermost  in  interest  to 
the  students  themselves,  as  well  as  to  their  parents  and  others 
concerned  in  their  work  and  welfare.  Dr.  Thwing  is,  perhaps, 
the  most  prominent  scientific  student  of  college  and  univeisity 
statistics,  and  the  results  of  work  before  and  after  graduation. 
This  carefully  and  entertainingly  written  presentation  of  con- 
clusions drawn  from  his  personal  experience  and  observation 
as  college  student  and  president  has  a  distinct  value  as  guide 
and  encouragement  to  those  within  college  walls,  and  as  an 
enlightened  statement  of  college  aims,  tendencies,  and  possi- 
bilities to  their  friends  without. 

**An  earnest,  eloquent,  and  convincing  vindication  of  the 
value  of  a  college  education,  not  only  as  a  means  of  ennobling 
and  enriching  the  individual  character  and  thus  indirectly 
benefiting  the  community,  but  also,  from  a  utilitarian  point  of 
view,  as  the  best  means  of  fitting  a  man  to  succeed  in  whatever 
calling  in  life  he  may  choose." — Cleveland  Leader. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 


BAKER  &  TAYLOR  GO/S  PUBLICATIONS. 
THREE   PUJ.PIT  AND   PASTORATE   BOOKS. 

THE  DIVINE  ART  OF  PREACHING.  By  Rev. 
Arthur  T.  Pierson,  D.D. 

Contents. — 1.  The  Sermon  as  an  Intellectual  Product. 
II.  The  Preacher  among  His  Books  III.  The  Preacher 
with  His  Themes.  IV.  The  Preacher  Training  His  Memory. 
V.  The  Twin  Laws  of  the  Sermon.  VI.  Types  of  Sermon 
Structure.  VII.  The  Preacher  among  the  Mysteries.  VIH. 
The  Preacher  among  the  Critics.  IX.  The' Preacher  with 
His  Bible.  X.  The  Preacher  in  His  Pulpit.  XI.  The 
Preacher  among  Snares.  XH.  The  Preaclier  among  His 
People.     Xni.  The  Preacher  Communing  with  the  Spirit. 

"  It  contains  the  freshest  thoughts  of  one  of  the  leading 
preachers  of  the  world,  on  a  subject  of  deep  interest  to  min- 
isters everywhere." — Cumberland  Presbyterian. 

HOW  TO  BE  A  PASTOR.  By  Rev.  Theodoke 
CUYLER,  D.D. 

Contents.— I.  Importance  of  Pastoral  Labor.  II.  Pas- 
toral Visits.  III.  Visitation  of  the  Sick— Funeral  Services. 
IV.  Treatment  of  the  Troubled.  V.  How  to  Have  a  Work- 
ing Church.  VI.  Training  Converts.  VII.  Prayer-meetings. 
VIII.  A  Model  Prayer-meeting.  IX.  Revivals.  X.  Drawing 
the  Bow  at  a  Venture.  XL  Where  to  be  a  Pastor.  XII.  Joys 
of  the  Christian  Ministry. 

**Tbe  fruit  of  large  native  sense,  long  experience,  wide 
observation,  and  devout  consecration." — Congregationalisi. 

THE  WORKING  CHURCH.  By  Rev.  Charles  F. 
Thwing,  D.D. 

I.  The  Church  and  the  Pastor.  II.  The  Character  of 
Church  Work.  III.  The  Worth  and  Worthlessness  of 
Methods.  IV.  Among  the  Children.  V.  Among  the  Young 
People.  VI.  Among  Business  Men.  VII.  From  the  Business 
Point  of  View.  VIII.  Two  Special  Agencies.  IX.  The 
Treatment  of  Strangers.  X.  The  Unchurched.  XL  Duties 
Towards  Benevolence.  XII.  The  Rewards  of  Christian  Work. 
XIII.  In  the  Country  Town. 

**  Every  chapter  is  full  of  pith,  bristling  with  points,  wise, 
sound,  and  practical." — The  E'Gangelist. 

16mo,  cloth,  gilt  top.  In  a  set,  $2.25.  Separately,  each, 
75  cents.     Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  pricey  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  Yobk. 


BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 


REV.  DR.  TODD'S  BOOKS. 

TODD'S  INDEX  RERUM.  By  John  Todd,  D.D.  Re- 
vised and  Improved  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Hubbard. 
Quarto,  half  leather,  $2.50. 

The  Index  is  intended  to  supply  to  those  who  are  careful 
enough  readers  to  make  notes  of  what  they  mi.y  wish  to  use 
again,  a  book  especially  adapted  to  that  purpose  by  a  system 
of  paging  by  letters,  each  page  having  a  margin  for  the  inser- 
tion of  the  words  most  expressive  of  the  subject  of  the  notes. 
It  contains  280  pages  of  quarto  size,  ruled  and  lettered,  and  in 
the  hands  of  an  industrious  reader,  forms,  in  the  course  of 
years,  a  perfect  index  of  his  reading,  as  valuable  as  he  may 
choose  to  make  it  complete. 

THE  STUDENT'S  MANUAL.  By  John  Todd,  D.D. 
12mo,  cloth,  $1.00. 

A  work  of  real  worth  for  students  and  those  who  desire  to 
become  such  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word.  It  is  written  with 
force  and  that  convincing  quality  which  creates  an  inclination 
on  the  part  of  the  reader  to  adopt  as  his  own  that  fine  body  of 
rules  and  principles  which  it  directly  inculcates.  As  a  forma- 
tive book  for  the  college  period  of  life,  it  is  unequalled  in  our 
literature.  It  has  received  the  universal  approbation  of  those 
who  are  interested  in  the  best  education. 

"  We  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  this  book  should  be 
diligently  read  by  every  student.  It  is  an  eminently  sensible 
and  stimulating  book,  and  its  advice  is  such  as  students  would 
do  well  to  heed." — Chicago  Interior, 

*'  This  book  has  done  an  immense  amount  of  good  in  its 
day,  and  is  destined  to  accomplish  still  more  in  its  reissued 
form.  It  is  the  most  sensible  and  attrLCtive  work  of  the  kind 
in  existence." — Utica  Herald. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  hy 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  YcxIk:. 


BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO/8  PUBLICATIONS, 
TA7VO  FAMOUS  AMERICANS, 

TALKS  WITH  EALPH  WALDO  EMERSON.  With 
a  hitherto  unpublished  Portrait.  By  Charles  J. 
Woodbury.    12mo,  cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.25. 

•  The  writer  of  this  book  had  exceptionable  opportunities  for 
access  to  and  intercourse  with  Mr.  Emerson,  and  has  furnished 
the  latter's  admirers,  and  lovers  of  culture  generally,  a  service 
of  the  highest  value  in  preparing  this  faithful  record  of  the 
poet's  opinions,  freely  and  spontaneously  expressed  in  conver- 
sations on  current  thought,  literature,  philosophy,  and  criti- 
cism ;  his  views  as  to  what  knowledge  and  culture  are  most 
worth  ;  and  his  thoughts  about  contemporary  writers  and 
workers. 

"  No  lover  of  Emerson  can  afford  to  overlook  this  book. 
He  pervades  it.     The  man  himself  is  there." — New  York  Sun. 

GREELEY  ON  LINCOLN.  With  Mr.  Greeley's  Let- 
ters to  Charles  A.  Dana  and  a  Lady  Friend;  to 
which  are  added,  Reminiscences  of  Horace  Greeley 
Edited  by  Joel  Benton.  With  a  photo -sculpture 
portrait  of  Mr.  Greeley,  and  a  facsimile  of  a  part 
of  his  MS.     12mo,  cloth,  $1.25. 

The  treatise  which  gives  the  title  to  this  volume,  shows  Mr. 
Greeley's  mind  in  contact  with  the  questions  and  the  person- 
ality which,  perhaps,  were  most  prominent  in  the  course  of  his 
own  career,  and  to  a  certain  extent  epitomize  it.  The  Letters 
to  Mr.  Dana,  and  those  to  an  intimate  lad3'  friend,  not  only 
cover  rare  periods  and  incidents  in  Mr.  Greeley's  life,  but  they 
show  the  nafve,  unconscious  motions  of  a  mind  never  tempted 
to  dissimulation,  and  (in  the  privacy  for  which  they  are  in- 
tended) without  motive  to  be  other  than  sincere. 

'*A  valuable  addition  to  American  literature." — Chicago 
Times, 

''  The  contents  of  this  volume  are  among  the  most  interest- 
ing that  have  ever  been  offered  to  American  readers." — Wash- 
ington Evening  News. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publisheks, 

5  AND  7  East  SixTEi^i^fiH  bT.,  New  York. 


BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO:S  PUBLICATIONS. 
TWO  BOOKS  ON  ART. 

CRAYON  PORTRAITURE.     Complete  Instructions 
for  Making  Crayon  Portraits  on  Crayon  Paper  and 
on  Platinum,  Silver,  and  Bromide  Enlargements. 
Also,  Directions  for  the  Use  of  Transparent  Liquid 
Water-colors  and  for  Making  French  Crystals.   By 
J.  A.  Barhydt.    12mo,  cloth,  illustrated,  revised 
and  enlarged  edition;  paper,  50  cents;  cloth,  $1.00, 
A  carefully  prepared  hand-book  for  professional  and  ama- 
teur artists,  written  with  special  reference  to  giving  such  full 
explanation  of  details  as  to  furnish  to  those  who  desire  to  take 
up  crayon  work  a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  materials  required 
and  their  use  and  manipulation,  together  with  all  the  methods 
and  processes  employed.    The  coloring  of  photographs,  engrav- 
ings, and  photogravures  with  Liquid  Water-colors  and  the 
making  of  French  Crystals  are  also  fully  treated. 

Theauthor's  successfully  accomplished  intention  is  to  fur- 
nish a  manual  that  will  enable  the  student  to  undertake  the 
making  of  crayon  portraits  for  a  livelihood  or  to  gratify  his 
taste  as  an  amateur. 

AMATEUR    PHOTOGRAPHY.     A  Practical  Guide 
for  the  Beginner.    By  W.  I.  Lincoln  Adams,  Editor 
of   "  The  Photographic  Times,"  '*  The  American 
Annual  of  Photography,"  "The  Photographic  In- 
structor," etc.,  etc.     Illustrated.    Paper,  50  cents  ; 
cloth,  $1.00. 
A  treatise  for  the  amateur,  by  one  whose  experience  of,  and 
immediate  contact  with,  the  wants  of  those  who  are  using  the 
camera  in  and  out  of   doors  especiall}^  fit   him  to  prepare  a 
hand-book  that  will  both  serve  as  a  guide  to  the  ordinary  w^ork, 
and  will  introduce  the  reader  to  new  fields  of  interest. 

Contents. — I.  Apparatus.  11.  In  the  Field.  III.  In  the 
Bark  Room.  IV.  Printing  and  Toning.  Y.  Portraiture. 
VI.  Instantaneous  Photography.  VII.  Flash-light  Photog- 
raphy. VIII.  Orthochromatic  or  Color-sensitive  Photogra- 
phy. IX.  Composite  Photography.  X.  The  "Fathers  of 
Photography."  Appendix,  Tables,  Formulae,  etc. 
Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  JS^ew  York. 


BAKER  (&   TAYLOR  CO: 8  PUBLICATIONS. 
TWO  OUT-OF-DOORS   BOOKS. 

WITH  THE  WILD  FLOWERS,  from  Pussy-willow 
TO  Thistle-down.  A  rural  chronicle  of  our  flower 
friends  and  foes,  describing  them  under  their 
familiar  English  names.  By  E.  M.  Hardinge. 
16mo,  cloth,  illustrated.     $1.00. 

This  book  is  a  delightfully  chatty  volume,  carrying  us 
through  the  whole  season  with  the  wild  flowers  as  they  make 
their  appearance.  It  is  intended  for  those  who  love  flowers  as 
flowers,  and  who  like  to  read  about  them  without  getting 
into  too  close  contact  with  technical  terms  and  classifications. 

The  author  is  well  known  as  a  writer  for  the  New  York 
** Evening  Post"  and  the  magazines,  and  her  articles  are 
gladly  welcomed  by  those  who  like  both  nature  and  literature. 

THE  AMATEUR  AQUARIST.  By  Mark  Samuel, 
Aquarist  to  Columbia  College,  New  York.  16mo, 
cloth,  illustrated.     $1.00. 

An  American  aquarium  book  indispensable  to  every  one  who 
wishes  to  start  an  aquarium  or  who  already  has  one.  It  con- 
tains complete  instructions  for  making  a  new  self-sustaining 
aquarium  requiring  change  of  water  but  once  a  year,  and  tells 
how,  when,  and  where  to  find  suitable  water-plants  and  fishes. 
With  over  fifty  new  illustrations  from  life,  by  which  to  iden- 
tify the  specimens. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  ly 
THE  BAKER  &;  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  and  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 


BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONb. 

CUE  COUNTRY :  Its  Present  Crisis  and  its  Pos- 
sible Future.  By  Rev.  Josiah  Strong,  D.D. 
12mo,  275  pp.,  paper,  30  cents  ;  cloth,  60  cents. 
Revision  based  on  the  Census  of  1890.  A  new  edi- 
tion (160th  thousand). 

Tbe  many  thousands  who  read  the  earlier  editions  of  this 
book,  and  were  moved  by  its  striking  portrayal  of  our  relig- 
ious, social,  and  economic  condition  and  tendencies,  will  learn 
with  interest  that  the  author  has  availed  himself  of  the  latest 
statistics  of  the  Census  of  1890  to  make  a  revision  of  his  work, 
which  causes  it  to  show  the  changes  of  the  last  ten  years,  and 
to  picture  the  actual  situation  of  to-day.  The  matter  of  the 
book  has  been  increased  one  third,  and  a  map  and  diagram 
forcibly  illustrate  some  of  the  more  startling  statisticnl  facts 
and  comparisons. 

**  This  volume  is  a  storehouse  of  information.  We  recall  no 
recent  volume  which  has  so  much  packed  into  it  of  value  for 
the  minister,  the  editor,  the  teacher,  and  in  general,  the  patriot, 
as  this  little  volume  on  'Our  Country.'" — Christian  Union. 

**  Its  facts  are  collated  and  marshalled  with  rare  skill.  It  is 
a  powerful  and  patriotic  book.  It  stirs  the  blood  ;  it  warms  ; 
it  inspires  ;  it  thrills  and  it  instructs.  It  ought  to  be  read  by 
every  citizen  of  the  Republic  ;  it  will  be  read  by  all  our  people 
who  wish  to  keep  abreast  of  needful  knowledge  regarding  our 
cou n  try. ' ' —  Christian  Inquirer. 

"If  the  means  were  at  our  command,  we  know  of  no  service 
we  could  perform  more  practical  and  effective  for  the  cause  of 
truth  and  righteousness,  than  to  place  a  copy  of  *  Our  Country ' 
in  the  hands  of  every  man  and  woman  in  the  land.''— Christian 
at  Work. 

"■  Words  are  feeble  in  the  recommendation  of  this  book.  It 
enlightens,  stirs,  quickens,  and  makes  the  blood  boil  with 
patriotic  zeal  and  Christian  vehemence.'* — Pulpit  Treasury. 

"  No  publication  of  the  present  decade  has  awakened  a  more 
"Profound  and  intelligent  interest.  ly\  its  present  form,  and  it 
is  still  compact  and  easily  handled,  v/e  again  commend  it  to 
all  Christian  and  patriotic  AmGnr,an  citizens. "-—iVJ^t^?  York 
Observer, 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  hy 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers. 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 


BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

BOOKS  BY  REV.  THEODORE  L.  CUYLER,  D.D. 

HUW  TO  BE  A  PASTOR.  16mo,  cloth,  gilt  top 
(uniform  with  Dr.  Pierson's  ^'  Divine  Art  of 
Preaching"),  75  cents. 

**If  any  mau  living  understands  the  subject  of  this  little 
book  it  is  Dr.  Cuyler." — Independent. 

**  Tlie  fruit  of  large  native  sense,  long  experience,  wide  ob- 
servation, and  devout  consecration." — Congregationalist. 

"  Tliis  book  will  be  read  by  thousands  of  teachable  and  con- 
scientious ministers.  It  ought  to  be.  Dv.  Cuyler  is  a  noted 
example  of  success  in  this  branch  of  work  Nobody's  pen 
can  write  wiser  words  than  his." — Mich.  Christian  Advocate. 

"Dr.  Cuyler  is  a  mau  who  is  'all  there' when  the  bell 
rings." — G.  H.  Spurgeon. 

STIRRING  THE  EAGLE'S  NEST,  AND  OTHER 
PRACTICAL  DISCOURSES.  12mo,  cloth,  with 
a  photogravure  portrait  of  the  author,  $1.25. 

A  collection  of  eighteen  sermons  thoroughly  representative 
of  the  author's  characteristic  style  and  speech. 

"  This  volume  shows  what  kind  of  preaching  built  up  the 
great  congregation  he  held  together,  and  made  a  frequent  de- 
mand for  his  pulpit  services  on  both  sides  of  the  sea." — N.  Y. 
Evangelist. 

"His  popularity  as  a  preacher  and  writer  has  been  not  only 
great,  but  enduring,  and  when  we  turn  to  these  sermons  it  is 
not  hard  to  find  the  reason." — N.  Y.  Tribune. 

**  Dr.  Cuyler  i«  easily  one  of  the  most  practical  and  edifying 
preachers  and  writers  of  our  times." — Christian  Advocate. 

"Few  men  have  impressed  themselves  as  widely  and  help- 
fully on  his  generation  as  he  has  done,  and  no  one  can  read 
this  volume  without  being  instructed,  stimulated,  quickened, 
and  helped." — Public  Opinion. 

STRAY  ARROWS.     ISmo,  cloth,  60  cents. 

"A  collection  of  brief,  pointed,  religious  articles.  They 
are  very  suggestive,  and  arrest  the  reader's  attention  by  their 
pointed  manner  as  well  as  their  striking  and  impressive 
thought." — Evangelist. 

"Polished  shafts  that  should  be  scattered  widely." — Ob- 
server. 

Sent,  postpaid^  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York 


BAKER  d  TAYLOR  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS, 

BOOKS  BY  KEV.  THEODOKE  L.  CUYLEB,  D.D.— (Con- 

tinued.) 

aOD'S  LIGHT  ON  DARK  CLOUDS.  16mo,  cloth, 
75  cents;  white  and  gold  gift  edition,  $1.00. 

"To  thousauds  of  disconsolate  hearts  these  pages  are  fitted 
to  carry  just  the  comfort  which  they  cruYe."— Congregational- 
ist. 

*'  These  are  words  of  sympathy  and  cheer  to  the  desponding 
and  bereaved — utterances  clear,  tender,  and  comforting  out  of 
a  suffering  heart  to  suffering  hearts." — Presbyterian. 

"  For  sentences  that  strike  and  stick,  gems  that  gleam  and 
glow,  and  thoughts  that  thrill,  commend  us  to  our  American 
friend . " — Spurgeon. 

THE  EMPTY  CRIB.  16mo,  cloth,  full  gilt,  two  steel 
portraits,  75  cents;   white  and  gold  gift  edition, 

$1.00. 

**  Those  who  have  lost  little  children  by  death  will  read  this 
book  with  moist  eyes." — Lutheran  Ohserver. 

**  A  real  gem;  the  outpouring  of  a  stricken  parent's  sorrows 
into  the  very  bosom  of  the  Saviour." — Christian  Advocate. 

"The  most  beautiful  little  gift  for  bereaved  parents  is  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Cuyler's  tribute  to  his  Georgie — '  The  Empty  Crib' 
— a  saintly  bunch  of  white  lilies  is  it  from  full  hands  and 
hearts." — Zion's  Herald. 

*'  These  words  of  consolation  are  filly  spoken — tender,  lov- 
ing, and  earnest — well  directed  to  the  minds  of  those  in  sor- 
row."— N.  Y.  Observer. 

POINTED  PAPERS  FOR  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE. 
12mo,  cloth,  with  a  steel  portrait  of  the  author, 
$1.50. 

*'  Dr.  Cuyler  holds  steadily  the  position  which  he  reached 
years  ago,  as  the  best  writer  of  pointed,  racy  religious  articles 
in  our  country." — Presbyterian. 

"  We  know  of  no  better  volume  for  the  stimulation  and 
guidance  of  the  Christian  life  in  all  our  rending,  nor  one  more 
likely  to  attract  and  hold  readers  of  widely  varying  culture 
and  (;haracter. " — Evangelist. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers. 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 


BAKER  &  TATLOE  GO'S  PUBLICATIONS. 
BOOKS  BY  REV.  ARTHUR  T.  PIERSON,  D.D. 

THE  DIVINE  ART  OF  PREACHING.  16mo, 
cloth  (uniform  with  Dr.  Cuyler's  "  How  to  be  a 
Pastor"),  75  cents. 

The  book  is  designed  to  tiirow  out  useful  hints  on  the  use 
of  books,  method  in  study,  cultivation  of  habits  of  thought, 
force  of  style,  and.  in  general,  whatever  makes  a  thoroughly 
furnished  minister  of  Christ. 

•'Without  hesitation  we  rank  Dr.  Pierson  as  one  of  the 
foremost  living  homilists.  Now  let  some  one  send  a  copy  of 
this  book  to  every  theological  student  and  to  every  home-mis- 
sionary in  the  \vin&."~GoW^n  Mule. 

THE  HEART  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  16mo,  cloth,  gilt 
top,  $1.25. 

Twelve  sermons  preached  in  Spurgeon's  pulpit. 

"They  stand  as  examples  of  Dr.  Pierson's  conspicuous  abil- 
ity as  an  extempore  speaker.  In  them  he  is  seen  at  his  best." 
— N.  Y.  Obserwr. 

THE  CRIPIS  OF  MISSIONS  ;  or,  The  Voice  Out 

OF    THE    Cloud.      16mo,   paper,   35  cents;    cloth, 

$1.25. 

"  One  of  the  most  important  books  to  the  cause  of  Foreign 
Missions,  and,  through  them,  to  Home  Missions  also,  which 
ever  has  been  written.  It  should  be  in  every  library  and 
every  household.  It  should  be  read,  studied,  taken  to  heart, 
and  prayed  over." — The  Congregationalist. 

EVANGELISTIC  WORK  IN  PRINCIPLE  AND 
PRACTICE.     16mo,  paper,  35  cents;  cloth,  $1.25. 

*'  If  our  pen  could  become  as  fervent  as  fire  and  as  fluent  as 
the  wave,  w^e  could  not  write  either  too  warmly  or  too  well  of 
this  book.  Dr.  Pierson  has  given  us  a  real  book — a  thunder- 
bolt—a cataract  of  fire.  These  flame  flakes  ought  to  fall  in 
showers  all  over  Christendom,  and  set  every  house  on  fire." — 
C.  H.  Spurgeon. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  piHce,  hy 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 


BAKER  (fe   TAYLOR  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 
BOOKS  BY  REV.  ARTHUR  T.  PIERSON,  D.D.— (Co^l^mued> 

THE  DIVINE  ENTERPRISE  OF  MISSIONS.  16mo, 
cloth,  gilt  top,  $1.25. 

In  this  work  the  author  seeks  the  eternal  and  imniulable 
principles  of  mission  work  in  the  utterances  of  the  Master 
himself.  The  subject  is  treated  under  the  Divine  Thought, 
Plan,  Work,  Spirit,  Force,  Fruit,  and  Challenge  of  Missions. 

"  Dr.  Pierson  has  come  into  the  very  front  rank,  if  he  does 
not  actually  occupy  a  position  in  advance  of  all  other  agitators 
for  Foreign  Mission  work.  We  know  of  no  other  source 
where  broader  views  or  truer  stimulus  can  be  found  for  this 
greatest  work  of  the  Church." — N.  Y.  Christian  Advocate. 

THE  ONE  GOSPEL;  OR  The  Combination  of  the 
Narratives  of  the  Four  Evangelists  in  one 
Complete  Record.  Edited  by  Arthur  T.  Pierson. 
12mo,  flexible  cloth,  red  edges,  75  cents;  limp 
morocco,  full  gilt,  $2.00. 

Without  taking  the  place  of  the  four  Gospels,  this  book  will 
be  an  aid  in  their  study — a  commentary  wholly  biblical, 
whereby  the  reader  may,  at  one  view,  see  the  complete  and 
harmonious  testimony  of  four  independent  witnesses. 

STUMBLING-STONES  REMOVED  FROM  THE 
WORD  OF  GOD.     18mo,  cloth,  50  cents. 

In  this  little  book  many  supposed  difficulties  of  the  Bible 
are  shown  not  to  be  such  in  fact,  and  such  simple  rules  of 
interpretation  of  a  general  character  are  l.-iid  down,  as  to  make 
clear  the  literal  truth  of  many  passages  which  to  some  muids 
have  previously  been  doubtful  or  only  capable  of  the  explana- 
tion that  they  were  used  metaphorically. 

"A  little  volume  worth  its  weight  in  gold,  in  which  many 
of  the  difficult  and  obscure  passages  of  Scripture  are  made 
clear  and  easy  to  be  uudQYS\ood."~- Christian  at  Work. 

"This  is  a  small  book,  but  it  contains  a  good  deal— remov- 
ing many  supposed  difficulties  from  the  Bible,  nnd  helping 
believers  to  a  better  understanding  of  the  book." — Presbyterian 
Observer. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  AND  7  East  {Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 


BAKER  d  TAYLOR  CO.'S  PUBLllATIONS. 

TAATO  BEAUTIFUL  GIFT-BOOKS. 
WEDDING  BELLS.     A  Marriage-record  Book,  con- 
taining Ruled  Spaces  for  each  Month,  in  which  to 
Insert  the  Names  and   Dates    of    Marriages    of 
Friends  and  Acquaintances,  and  a  Marriage  Cer- 
tificate.   By  H.  Emilie  Taylor.     Square  12mo, 
$1.00. 
This  book  is  beautifully  lithographed  ou  heavy  paper  iu 
green  and  gold,  and  bound  delicately  in  gold  aad  white. 

"This  prettily  made  volume  differs  from  most  of  the  mar- 
riage-record books,  in  being  altruistic  rather  than  egotistic. 
It  is  for  keeping  track  of  the  weddiugs  of  one's  friends. 
Each  month  begins  with  a  prettily  decorated  page  and  an 
appropriate  motto." — The  Evangelist 

*'  Tliis  is  a  happy  idea,  and  the  clergyman  who  presents  a 
bride  with  her  marriage  certificate  in  this  form  will  be  likely 
to  win  her  lasting  gratitude.  It  is  beautifully  gotten  up." — 
New  York  Observer. 

SONGS  IN  THE  NIGHT  WATCHES  :  From  Voices 
Old  and  New.     Compiled  by  Helen  H.  Strong 
Thompson.    With  an  Introduction  by  Dr.  Josiah 
Strong.    Square  12nio,  cloth  (wrhite  and  colors), 
full  gilt,  $1.25;  full  padded  leather,  $2.25. 
This  is  a  collection  of  religious  verse  designed,  in  the  words 
of  the  compiler,  '*to  pierce  with  a  joyous  note  the  darkuess 
of  the  night."     The  songs  are  classified  as  appropriate  to ; 
I.  Darkness;  II.  Heaviness;  III.  Temptation;  IV.  Humilia- 
tion;  V.  Poverty;  VI.  Captivity;   VII.  Fear;  VIII.  *'The 
House  of  My  Pilgrimage  ;"  IX.  Kemembraoce  ;  X.  Sickness  ; 
XI.  Bereavement ;  XIL  Death  ;  XIII.  "The  Song  of  Songs," 
and  **  The  New  Song,''  to  be  sung  only  when  the  night  songs 
are  past. 

**  Nothing  lovelier  than  your  Songs  in  the  Night  has  ever 
come  into  my  way.  I  have  been  reading  the  dear  little  book 
with  the  greatest  delight.  It  is  a  happy  thought,  happily 
executed." — Margaret  E.  Sangsier. 

**  The    sweetest  Songs  ever  sung  this  side  of  heaven."— 
Northwestern  Presbyterian. 
Sent,  postpaid y  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 


BAKER  d  TAYLOR  CO:S  PUBLICATIONS. 

EXPOSITORY  THOUGHTS  ON  THE  GOSPELS. 
By  Rt.  Rev.  J.  C.  Ryle,  D.D.,  Bishop  of  Liverpool. 
7  vols.,  12mo,  cloth,  in  a  set,  $8.00.  Matthew, 
1  vol. ;  Mark,  1  vol. ;  Luke,  2  vols. ;  John,  3  vols. 
Each  volume,  $1.25. 

The  seven  volumes,  convenient  in  size  and  agirregating 
nearly  3000  pages,  are  devoted  as  follows:  one  to  Matthew, 
one  to  Mark,  two  to  Luke,  three  to  Johu.  As  indicated  by 
the  title,  the  work  is  pie-eminently  expository  iu  character 
In  his  treatment  of  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  the  author 
divides  the  text  of  sacred  Scripture  into  passages  of  about 
twelve  verses  each,  which,  taken  as  a  whole,  serves  as  a  basis 
for  a  continuous  series  of  short,  plain  **  Expositions."  To  this 
method  he  adds,  when  treating  the  Gospel  by  John,  the  verse 
by  verse  exegesis.  The  practical  lessons  and  inferences  from 
the  passages  given  are  followed  by  notes  explanatory,  doctrinal, 
and  hortatory,  and  the  views  ol  other  commentators  are  pre- 
sented from  time  to  time. 

"It  is  the  kernels  without  the  shells." — Christian  Union. 

**  It  is  the  nuister  work  of  a  master  workman,  and  shall 
abide  among  the  noblest  works  of  the  noblest  expositor  of  the 
truth  of  God," — Religious  Herald. 

"As  practical  expositions,  these  Notes  on  the  Gospels  are 
not  excelled  by  any  works  on  the  Gospels  in  our  language." — 
Evangelical  Repository. 

"We  are  always  glad  to  get  a  new  book  from  the  pen  of 
this  admirable  writer.  His  thoughts  are  warm,  earnest,  spir- 
itual, and  practical.  Indeed  there  are  few  modern  writers  who 
more  happily  combine  the  instructive  with  the  popular  style 
of  writing." — New  York  Obsermr. 

•*We  regard  them  as  taking  the  lead  of  all  works  of  the 
same  kind  in  respect  to  soundness  of  doctrinal  views,  and  in 
regard  to  clear  and  consistent  statements  pertaining  to  the  fun- 
damental points  of  redemption.  The  '  Thoughts '  are  critical, 
historical,  exegetical,  and  devotional,  and  will  be  of  permanent 
value  in  the  family,  in  the  school,  and  in  the  instructions  ol 
the  House  of  God." — Episcopalian. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publisheks, 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 


BAKER  d  TAYLOR  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 
SPURGEON'S  LAST  AND  BEST  WORK. 

THE  GOSPEL  OF  THE  KINGDOM:  A  Popular 
Exposition  of  the  Gospel  according  to  Mat- 
thew. By  C.  H.  Spurgeon.  With  Introductory 
Note  by  Mrs.  C.  H.  Spurgeon,  and  an  Introduction 
to  the  American  Edition  by  Arthur  T.  Pierson. 
12mo,  cloth,  512  pp.     $1.50.  ' 

This  commentary  on  Ihe  Gospel  according  to  Maltliew  is 
the  latest  and  ripest  of  his  life's  labors.  It  will  be  found  a 
tree,  laden  with  rich  fruit;  and  evidencing  a  soil  singularly 
fertile,  and  the  culture  which  bespeaks  a  divine  husbandman. 
It  is  his  latest  work,  and  has  in  a  sense  the  aroma  of  his  dying 
days,  and  is  a  simple,  brief,  and  charming  memorial  of  the 
most  effective  popular  preacher  of  his  age.  Every  page  is, 
like  his  sermons,  full  of  his  Master,  and  yet  sparkling  with  his 
own  unique  individuality. 

"This  book  is  the  rich  fruit  of  an  experience  of  the  needs 
uf  Christian  readers  more  full  and  varied  than  has  been  given 
to  many  men.  It  would  be  gilding  refined  gold  to  recommend 
the  expository  work  of  Spurgeon  to  our  readers :  they  all  know 
what  it  is.  But  for  their  information  we  may  explain  that 
text  by  text,  or  two  or  three  texts  taken  together,  the  Gospel 
is  gone  over  with  brief,  practical,  pungent,  and  very  spiritual 
comment,  rising  at  times  into  eloquence  such  as  Spurgeon  was 
master  of.  The  titles  of  the  various  sections  are  in  themselves 
illuminating,  giving  in  a  very  few  words  a  comprehensive  view 
of  the  contents  of  the  section.  In  this  book  its  consecrated 
writer,  being  dead,  yet  speaketh  to  an  audience  larger,  we 
believe,  than  any  that  ever  heard  his  voice  in  life." — JVew  York 
Evangelist. 

"  This  is  a  work  in  Mr.  Spurgeon 's  usual  style,  full  of  good 
thoughts  plainly  expressed.  The  idea  of  the  title  is  wrought 
into  every  part  of  the  book.  Every  section  h«s  something 
about  either  the  King  or  the  Kingdom.  The  work  is  topically 
arranged,  and  so  has  a  topical  table  of  contenls,  such  as  the 
Pedigree  of  the  King,  The  Birth  of  the  King,  The  King  Ap- 
pearing, and  The  King  Assailed,  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  its 
twenty-eight  sections  " — Church  Advocate. 

Sent,  postpaid,  on  receipt  of  the  price,  by 

THE  BAKER  &  TAYLOR  CO.,  Publishers. 

5  AND  7  East  Sixteenth  St.,  New  York. 

O^  THE      ^y\ 


UNIVERSITY  11 

OP  // 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 
University  of  California  Library 
or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
BIdg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 
2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 

(415)642-6753 
1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  books 

to  NRLF 
Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days 

prior  to  due  date 


DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 


■+-?-B9f ;^ft  1  %   2003 

APR252005 


MAY  05  1994 


^UiOfic^uCiKC 


^ECO    iq^^ 


^^y^Q^^-^^-K^       L 


m.  HnpgijT  Mi  3   '9B 


RECEIVED 


JAN  -  3  1995 


20 


;i.'.,  .tii->>^ 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


CDDb7MSn7 


11 


